<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Bitter Pills &amp; Societal Ills by Neuros91</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23325028">Bitter Pills &amp; Societal Ills</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neuros91/pseuds/Neuros91'>Neuros91</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5, Persona Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Angst, Female Persona 5 Protagonist, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Psychological Trauma, Suicide Attempt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:27:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>42,558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23325028</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neuros91/pseuds/Neuros91</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After trying to do the right thing ruins Akira's life, she feels like a shell of her former self. Disowned, branded a violent prostitute, shipped off to live in a stranger's attic, forced to attend a school that doesn't want her, and facing targeted harassment from staff and student alike; her downward spiral seems to be rapidly approaching terminal velocity.</p><p>But the onset of strange dreams and a stranger reality offer both an impossible hope and even greater challenges. The real question now is whether she'll be able to keep herself together long enough to see it all through.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>173</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Gray</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hiya folks. It's been years since I've done any serious writing and even longer since I've written fanfiction, but I'm bored out of my skull in isolation for the whole pandemic thing and figured I'd give it a try. Hopefully you'll find this entertaining. Either way, it has been fun to write so far!</p><p>For this story, I'm trying out a protagonist that more or less starts at a 1 in her social stats. Not so much reflecting her boring starting personality, but her traumas causing issues in other areas of her life. I apologize if she comes across as overly verbose, angsty, or repeats herself too much - I'm deliberately going for a quiet, intelligent, traumatized teenager trapped in her head with her very loud thoughts and very few safe outlets. Which means a lot of, well...that.</p><p>I'm also going to be playing pretty loose with canon. Partially because it's not that fun to just rewrite the game, partially because this character is going to be different enough from many P5 protags that scenes won't turn out the same.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/9/2016<br/>
Evening</p><p>##</p><p>Gray, gray, gray. That was the defining feature of Akira’s brief time in Tokyo so far. The weather had taken on a dingy overcast days before she arrived, but that was hardly the whole of it. The sense of disconnection she’d first felt settle into her in the court room </p><p>(when she’d finally realized just how thoroughly and spitefully screwed she was - and that they were right, nobody cared and nobody was going to save her)</p><p>took in the sights like a wet blanket, filtering any wonder or curiosity the country girl in her might have felt about this place and leaving her with little more than a weary shivering and a deep desire to return to a safe place that she knew did not exist anymore.</p><p>Navigating the city during the evening bustle was a trial. She was confused by the labyrinthine train lines and jostled about by the teeming masses. She had never liked crowds, and didn’t have much experience with them. But, after much muttered cursing and tapping away at her new discount phone she did make it to Yongen-Jaya without incident.</p><p>...Mostly. Disregarding what she assumed was a stress-induced hallucination. Because what else could it even have been? One of Akira’s sillier musings as she shook off the strange experience was that she lived in a world of court dates and permanent records - not time stopping phone viruses and flaming blue demons. Then any amusement at that fell flat at the follow up thought of what talking about such a thing would look like on her already tarnished medical history. Not to mention what it would do to her probation.</p><p>After the bustle of the metro, the relative quiet of a winding-down Yongen-Jaya was somewhat unnerving. She felt wired and anxious as she followed the directions on her phone, like she’d been drinking coffee all evening. There was another depressing thought: she hadn’t had the opportunity for real coffee in months.</p><p>But no, what she felt was just plain fear, and she hated it. Six months ago navigating her way alone in this narrow, charming neighborhood in the dwindling hours of a Tokyo evening would have seemed like a grand adventure. Now here she was, growing more irrationally paranoid with every step. What if she were attacked again? Or even just accosted by a bored cop? Any fuss raised by the police was likely to put her back in juvenile hall, regardless of guilt. The idea that potentially anyone around her could hold her future in their hands made her feel horribly vulnerable.</p><p>And if her mystery <i>patron</i> got wind of the fact she was back in the courts? She’d seen no end to his spite so far. For all she knew, she’d end up tried as an adult and put away for decades. Hell, she'd only been 'out' for a couple of days, and so far she'd still spent almost the entire time half-expecting the cops to pick her up on the way here and tell her that <i>plans have changed.</i></p><p>It seemed like eventually any trail of thoughts she followed too far ended up back at that same conclusion: she was trying to walk a tight rope, and the booing crowd was throwing tomatoes.</p><p>Akira eventually found herself ringing the front bell of a modest residence, but nobody was answering. While she was double checking the address she’d been given, she felt a tap on her shoulder and jerked away from it instinctively, heart rate shooting through the roof as she leapt back and around to face her assailant-</p><p>Who, predictably, was just a confused and slightly alarmed delivery guy, probably not much older than her. He held his clipboard in the crook of his arm, with his hands up in a calming gesture. “Sorry, Miss. I didn’t mean to scare you. Just needed to drop off this delivery.”</p><p>Her heart hammered in her chest, and for the millionth time in the last few months she wondered again what the hell was wrong with her.</p><p>And again, it was a pointless question, because she had a pretty good idea.</p><p>She held her own hand up with a wave she hoped he took as conciliatory, not wanting to reveal how shaky her voice might be. To this stranger, or herself. She quickly got her breathing under control while the guy finished processing the delivery, and on his way out, he looked at her tentatively. “Do you need any help? No offense, but you look pretty lost.”</p><p>“I’m not sure,” Akira said awkwardly after a moment, voice surer now. “I’m looking for Sojiro Sakura. I thought he lived here, but…he doesn’t seem to be home.”</p><p>“Oh!” He perked a little bit at that, seemingly happy to help. “Sakura owns the cafe down the road. Leblanc, it’s called. I can show you where it is if you like, it’s not far.”</p><p>“No,” she said bluntly. Then internally cursed, as the guy winced a little at her brusqueness. But really, follow a guy she just met down a dark road to an unknown destination? Not in the cards.</p><p>“S-sorry,” she tried to amend her tone. “What I meant was, I don’t want to pull you away from your work. If Leblanc is the name, I should be able to find it, thank you.”</p><p>He nodded and pointed down a nearby road. “Well, good luck. You’ll see on the map that it’s down that way. And, uh, not to be condescending or anything, but you don’t need to worry. Yongen’s a pretty safe neighborhood.”</p><p>The guy had tried to say it in a comforting tone, but it set off what Akira had begun privately referring to as a <i>fuck-off contest</i>. That is, a contest deciding whether to fuck off or tell <i>them</i> to fuck off.</p><p>More accurately, a wrestling match between the desperate fear of her self-preservation and the sickening rage permanently lodged in her gut, to decide whether to take his statement in stride and <i>get moving</i> to keep from causing more trouble for herself, or to snap and tell this guy what he can do with his fucking safe neighborhood.</p><p>It was a battle she’d fought more times in the past six months than she could count. She learned quickly that giving into her anger just made things worse, so generally the self-preservation had almost always won out. But every time it did, it fed the rage and made it that much more unreasonable. It felt like it had a life of its own, like an abused dog she kept locked up in a kennel all day. Starved, and taunted with food.</p><p>It didn’t even matter that the guy’s statement wasn’t ill-intentioned, as far as she could tell. She still wanted to lash out at him, to tell him that anywhere is safe until it’s not, that being in a safe neighborhood didn’t protect her all those months ago.</p><p>But that’s something a crazy person would do. So instead she settled for a strangled smile on her face that set the guy back on his heels, eyes a little wide, as she spun around and began speedwalking off in the direction he had indicated. As she did, she verified on her phone that there was in fact a cafe named Leblanc right near by, and gave an uneven sigh.</p><p>God. She’d never been a social butterfly, but that was just pathetic. Couldn’t even ask for directions without freaking out. Akira had absolutely no idea how she was going to get through school at this rate.</p><p>Of course, despite her fear of being out on the street, she slowed as Leblanc came into view. No putting this off - this is where she would meet the man she’d be living with for the next year. And she still knew next to nothing about Sakura. She’d long since given up asking for information about her case or to talk to her parents, so his name, phone number, and home address were the grand extent of her knowledge.</p><p>No putting this off. She kept repeating this in her head, but still came to a halt meters from the door, once again struggling to get her breathing under control. She tried to remember the angry promises she’d made to herself night after night in that cell, that the next time a man tried to hurt her, she would <i>earn</i> her jail time.</p><p>But it’s one thing to glory in the anger when you can’t act on it and it’s all you’ve got to keep yourself going. It’s entirely another to face head-on the real possibility you might have to make that choice.</p><p>More breathing exercises. And, go. Akira pushed the door open carefully, a small ding announcing her entry.</p><p>The place didn’t have much business. An old couple chatting in one of the booths, and an old man in an apron leaned over a newspaper on the counter. She assumed this was Sakura, but he didn’t even look up. Akira stood awkwardly at the door for a moment, before slowly making her way near the counter.</p><p>Then he glanced over disinterestedly, before straightening as it seemed to kick in who she was. “Oh, he did say that was today,” he muttered to himself.</p><p>Akira was not sure how to reply to that, so she didn’t. It was hard enough just to keep the trepidation off her face, anyway. They just sort of stared at each other for a few moments.</p><p>“Well-” He began, but was interrupted by the old couple standing to leave, trying to draw him into a bit of chit chat while giving their farewells. He sent them off with a distracted air. Akira kept quiet, waiting for them to slowly make their way out the door.</p><p>After the door dinged once more, Sakura sighed. “Four hours for one lousy cup of coffee.”</p><p>Akira gave a nervous titter, to which the coffee man side-eyed her. Then he said, “Well, welcome. Akira Kurusu, right? I’m Sojiro Sakura. I’ll be in charge of your probation.”</p><p>She nodded, still not sure what to say. She tried anyway: “I wasn’t told much. But, um. Thanks for taking me in. They told me this was a…good opportunity.”</p><p>At that, Sakura snorts. “Yeah, well. You can thank me by making it easy on me. Your probation is strict, and I’ll be making regular reports. You break or steal anything, you disappear, you get in trouble at school, and I’ll throw you out. I throw you out, you end up back in juvenile detention. Or worse. Got it?”</p><p>There’s that tightrope again. Akira wonders how many more times she’s going to hear that speech as she nods.</p><p>“Well,” he said, his voice seeming to loosen up a bit at her lack of obvious and immediate delinquency. “Anyway. I’ll show you your room.”</p><p>She nodded, expecting him to toss aside his apron and head to the door with her. Instead, he made his way to the back of the cafe, toward the stairs. Akira was little confused, but began to follow after he paused on the landing to give her a look.</p><p>After following him up, she was presented with…a dusty, cluttered attic.</p><p>“You’ll have to clean it,” he said, sounding like he’s trying to come across as stern rather than sheepish. “I haven’t touched most of this crap since I bought the place. I’ll show you where the supplies are.”</p><p>Akira couldn’t help it. She looked at the dusty attic and gave the first actual laugh she’d had in months, at how the absurdity of her situation just continued to compound. She couldn’t wait to see what ridiculous, unlikely circumstance she’d get to face next. Yet, even with the bitterness in that thought, another still underlaid it:</p><p>
  <i>Better than a cell.</i>
</p><p>Sakura looked at her, looking both surprised and a little suspicious. “What?”</p><p>“On the way here, I was thinking about how I haven’t had any coffee in months. Now I’m going to live in the attic of a coffee shop.”</p><p>The man gave a gruff laugh. “Yeah, well. There’ll be rules about that. But we’ll go more into them tomorrow. You should get going on this place, and get some rest - we’ve got a meeting at the school tomorrow morning.”</p><p>Akira nodded, and spent the night doing as he said. He seemed pleased at her progress when he came to tell her he was locking up. It surprised her how much better that tiny display of kindness made her feel - for a bit. Later in the night, tossing and turning, she’d realize it was because she literally couldn’t remember the last time anyone was pleased with her about anything.</p><p>Unless you counted the asshole who did all this to her, pleased as punch with his total fucking victory.</p><p>She didn’t cry often, but when she did, it came in force. It took a long time to sob herself to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Meetings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A pair of interesting meetings set the stage for Akira's next year.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Man, had some issues getting this one up! For some reason the AO3 editor really likes throwing out all my formatting. </p><p>That, and another project I'm working on uses the present tense rather than the past, and I keep mixing them up mid-writing, which is making editing a lot of fun. If you see any obvious mistakes, feel free to let me know! I am definitely still getting back into the swing of all this.</p><p>One stylistic choice I'm making is that a lot of Akira's general thoughts come through in the prose, but the italics come in when she's talking with aspects of herself, or otherwise seem appropriate.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/10/2016<br/>
Morning</p><p>##</p><p>The alarm dragged Akira’s brain back into consciousness, but it took a lot of effort to actually drag herself out of bed. She managed it with little grace, telling herself that she didn’t actually have school today, just a brief meeting. <em>At her new school</em>, her traitorous mind added, and she still felt nauseous at the thought.</p><p>She still wasn’t really sure what to expect, as far as Shujin went. The fact an elite prep school was willing to take her in with her circumstances was completely at odds with what she had expected when they told her they’d found a school for her.</p><p>Akira was a good student, with a good educational record, but she’d probably have had a hard time getting into Shujin on her merits alone. She certainly didn’t have the money for it. It was potentially a good thing. A good showing at an elite school would not erase her criminal record, but it might allow her to salvage <em>something</em> out of the flaming wreckage of her future.</p><p>So naturally, Akira was instantly suspicious.</p><p>Good things had stopped happening to her the night of her arrest. The logical part of her brain told her it was statistically unlikely that <em>everything</em> that would happen to her from now on would be bad. The caged anger in her gut retaliated by snarling, <em>And what part of any of this has been statistically likely? Stop fooling yourself.</em></p><p>She closed her eyes for a moment, composed herself, and then began to get ready.</p><p>Turns out, unsurprisingly, that the coffee shop did not have a shower. It was however right down the street from a bathhouse. Though it could have been worse, the thought of undressing in public, even among women, made her feel very uneasy. She did it anyway, because the idea of what might happen if she showed up to Shujin a sweaty mess scared her more.</p><p>When she returned, there was a plate of curry waiting on the counter, and the smell reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning or even really thought about her food situation. She sighed as she passed it on her way up the stairs, wondering if she could get Sakura to stop somewhere on the way back.</p><p>“That’s for you.”</p><p>Akira turned, and Sakura was gesturing to the curry on the counter. He huffed a little impatiently at her confused look, and continued, “You see anyone else in here? I’m not even open yet.”</p><p>“I probably can’t afford it.”</p><p>“That’s not-,” he started, looking a little flustered. “Kid, I’m technically your guardian during all this. It’d look pretty bad if I let you starve to death while living in my restaurant. And, I figured, since you just got here, you probably didn’t…”</p><p>In a rare moment of good humor, Akira realized this guy seemed to dislike talking as much as she did. In a weird way, the awkwardness made her feel more comfortable.</p><p>He seemed to sense her budding amusement, because he instead finished the sentence with, “Look, just shut up and eat the damn curry. We’ve gotta go soon.”</p><p>Akira practically inhaled it. It’s probably - no, not probably. It <em>is</em> the best damn thing she’s had since her arrest. In the midst of everything else going on, she hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed good food.</p><p>To make things better, shortly after she started, Sakura brought over this heavenly-smelling cup of coffee. She couldn’t say she’d ever had coffee and curry together before, but one thing she is not after months in jail is <em>picky</em>. And she’s glad, because it was delicious.</p><p>As she sat there, almost groaning from the speed at which she’d stuffed herself, Sakura allowed himself a quiet chuckle and asked, “Better?”</p><p>“This is the best morning I’ve had in six months,” she said, without forethought or exaggeration. “Thank you.”</p><p>To her surprise, instead of seeming pleased with her thanks, his expression became inscrutable. “It’s just breakfast,” he mumbled as he took the dishes back to the kitchen.</p><p>Huh. Guess he doesn't accept thanks very well.</p><p>They packed up and got in Sakura’s car to go to Shujin. They rode mostly in silence, Akira watching out the window. Though maybe <em>rode</em> isn’t the right verb for it - she’d expected the traffic to be bad, but this was unreal. Maybe <em>limped</em> or <em>crawled</em> worked better.</p><p>Sakura’s mood got worse with the traffic. “Those goddamn metro accidents,” he muttered at one point.</p><p>“Metro accidents?” Akira asked carefully, hoping he wouldn’t turn his temper on her.</p><p>He glanced at her. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard about them. People keep going crazy and causing accidents. It’s been all over the news. They’re calling them mental shutdowns.”</p><p>Akira thought about it, and realized she had heard that term a few times the day before. “I suppose I’ve been a bit…distracted.”</p><p>He didn’t reply to that, and they made the rest of the ride in silence. Her tension built as the school came into view. Sakura noticed.</p><p>“So, I probably don’t need to tell you what you’re gonna hear in there,” he grumbled as he pulled into an empty spot. “Let’s just get this done quickly. Try to say as little as possible.”</p><p>Akira nodded. Her specialty. At that thought, the anger in her gut rattled its cage, but she ignored it. <em>Also my specialty</em>, she added viciously. Is it possible to get angry at your own anger? Somehow, it was, and she’d managed it.</p><p>After finding their way to the Principal’s office, they were asked to wait for a few minutes outside while he wrapped up what he was working on. The two of them sat awkwardly side by side, watching the Sunday traffic of the school. Akira was practically vibrating with the tension. She spent the time carefully staring ahead, controlling her breathing, and doing everything she could to prepare herself mentally for the meeting.</p><p>At one point she felt a shift and Sakura started to say something, but to her great relief he stopped, and remained silent until the secretary appeared to tell them that Principal Kobayakawa was ready to see them.</p><p>Within the most luxurious-looking principal’s office she’d ever seen sat one of the strangest-looking men she’d ever seen. He was an egg in a suit. For an insane moment, she actually felt herself fighting back a giggle. God, what is <em>wrong</em> with her? She imagined preparing herself so carefully not to lash out in anger just to immediately <em>laugh</em> at the man for looking funny instead.</p><p>After she took in the egg man at the desk - and she has <em>got </em>to stop thinking of him like that if she wants to keep her cool here - Akira’s eyes shifted to the other person in the room. An uncomfortable looking woman in a striped orange shirt.</p><p>“Miss Kurusu, welcome to Shujin Academy,” Eggman began, as Akira’s eyes turned back to him. His stern look was a familiar one. “I am Principal Kobayakawa. As our newest student, with your…exceptional circumstances, I thought it best we meet in person. So it was certain you understood your position within our school.”</p><p>Here it comes. Akira nodded, waiting.</p><p>“First, you should know that this is a unique opportunity for you. You are the first in Shujin Academy’s new rehabilitation program with the courts, to identify at-risk youths that might benefit from Shujin’s world-class educational services.”</p><p>Well, that explained that, at least. Akira couldn’t find it in her to be surprised that the first good break she’d gotten since this whole mess started was essentially a PR ploy to include her as a footnote in the Prospective Students section of Shujin’s website.</p><p><em>Check it out, donors! Our program is so good, it doubles as rehab for crazy whores,</em> her anger mocked her. <em>Just look at what it did for that Akira Kurusu!</em></p><p><em>You’re thinking too far ahead,</em> her logic replied reprovingly. <em>That’s assuming I actually make it through my probation here and graduate.</em></p><p><em>You’re right,</em> her anger mused, through grating teeth. <em>Silly me.</em></p><p>Eggman continued talking. “That being so, the expectations we’re placing on you are twofold. One: you must behave with the utmost decorum while you are here. There is no room for slip-ups or returning to your old behavior. That especially means no fighting, and <em>no dating</em>. Do you understand me?”</p><p>His eyes drilled into hers as he said this, and Akira knew exactly what he meant by <em>dating</em>. In her peripheral vision, she saw both Sakura and the other woman shift a little. Her eyes fell behind her frizzy black mop of hair as her face burned brightly with dizzying embarrassment and banked rage. She almost swayed a little on her feet before taking a deep breath and nodding.</p><p>You’d think eventually she’d at least get numb to what other people thought about her, regarding…this. It had been the central focus of almost every interaction she’d had with almost everybody she’d met in six months. But the accusation tied up everything wrong in her life and where it all came from in a snug package with a little red bow, complete with free rush delivery right to her psyche. Every time seemed to hit her like the first.</p><p>Thankfully, her nod seemed to be enough for the Principal. “Good. And for the second expectation: You must excel. Shujin has many resources for high-achieving students. And the best way for you to avoid trouble is to immerse yourself in your studies. I see no reason not to hold you to a higher standard than our other students. In fact, it is the least you can do to pay our school back for its generosity. Do you understand me?”</p><p>Another nod.</p><p>“Say it, please.”</p><p><em>I told you to spend more time working out in jail, </em>her anger told her crisply. <em>We could be flipping this fucker’s desk right now.</em></p><p><em>That’s stupid</em>, her logic replied. <em>That thing is enormous, and made out of solid wood. I’d stand a better chance of wrestling him out that window. Just get the right leverage, and…</em></p><p>Akira suddenly realized she had gone too long without replying. The Principal’s eyes had narrowed, and the tension in the room had gotten thicker. Her eyes were still hidden behind her hair. “I underst-” she began gratingly, before the rawness of her voice caused her to break out in a brief coughing fit, which she hid in her arm.</p><p>As it subsided, she continued in a dead voice, “Excuse me. I understand, sir.”</p><p><em>Coward,</em> her anger jeered as the Principal gave her a satisfied nod.</p><p><em>What do you even want me to do?</em> Akira argued angrily with herself. <em>You’re not the one who has to live with the consequences.</em></p><p><em>I live with the consequences of your cowardice every day, </em>it replied in a deadly serious tone.<em> And so do you.</em></p><p>Akira had gotten a bit distracted again. She looked up as he continued. He appeared to be introducing the other woman in the room.</p><p>“…and so, any questions you have about getting settled in or your catch-up work, you may direct to Ms. Kawakami. Kawakami? Would you like to introduce yourself?”</p><p>Akira could guess the answer to that from the look on her face. The woman wouldn’t even meet her eyes. Was this her teacher?</p><p>“Welcome, Kurusu. I will do my best to get you…acclimated. Please come to me with any concerns you may have.”</p><p>Sure.</p><p>Sakura, bless him, chose that moment to interject, “My apologies, but can we wrap this up? I’ve got a store to get back to.”</p><p>The Principal looks up at him with a satisfied look on his face and nods. “Yes, Mr. Sakura. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. We’ll be sure to be in touch with any important information.”</p><p>With that, they were able to escape the office. Akira had to speed up to keep up with Sakura’s long strides; he looked like he couldn’t get out of the school fast enough. She had no objections.</p><p>The man was in an even stormier mood on the way back than on the way over. Akira observed wearily that the traffic did somehow seem even worse.</p><p>“They treated you like…” he said at one point, trailing off.</p><p>Akira tensed up, and abruptly did not want him to finish that sentence. “Par for the course,” she muttered tonelessly without looking over at him. He didn’t continue.</p><p>It took far too long to get home, and neither of them seemed to be much in the mood for talk. She thanked him for the ride and the earlier meal, and excused herself to resume cleaning her room.</p><p>##</p><p>Hours later in the evening, Sakura came up with some curry while she was taking a break and filled her in on the everyday rules for the store while she ate. Pretty common sense stuff, like don’t steal or contaminate the food, wash your hands if you handle any equipment downstairs, etcetera.</p><p>He said that he could handle her breakfast and dinner until she got a job, which improved her mood a bit - though the thought of getting a job working with strangers in a strange place sort of terrified her. He also gave her a journal for her probation, and told her writing in it was mandatory.</p><p>Akira thanked him quietly for everything after he told her he was locking up, to which he gruffly told her not to worry about it, so long as she cleaned up after herself. Then he left, and she was blissfully alone.</p><p>Sort of blissfully. She thought about how strange it seemed for someone who just got out of jail to enjoy being locked up alone in an unfamiliar place. But now that she’d had a little time to adjust, she admitted this actually wasn’t a bad setup, with some work. She was more comfortable alone like this than if she was living under Sakura’s roof, even if he’d seemed alright so far.</p><p>And it was sort of cool. Akira now lived in a cozy back-alley coffee shop. It sounded like the kind of unlikely living situation you’d see in a novel or anime. As she wound down on browsing the web, sitting on her uncomfortable bed, she reflected that no matter what school turned out like, it might be tolerable if this is where she got to spend her evenings.</p><p>##</p><p>Akira tended to do a lot of staring at the ceiling at night.</p><p>That night started that way, but at some point she must have drifted off, because she eventually noticed that she wasn’t staring up into rafters anymore; she was staring at…a deep, bluish curtain?</p><p>Looking to the side, she stared blankly into a similarly hued padded wall. She then realized her pajamas felt different, and jerked herself up, looking around wildly.</p><p>She was shackled. Like, old-school actual iron shackles, binding her hands together and one of her legs by chain to a nearby iron ball. And she was wearing a prisoner's uniform. She had been <em>changed.</em> Panic set in and her gorge began to rise as she considered what all this could mean, and she nearly fell as she tried to stand.</p><p>Did Sakura drug her? This didn’t seem like an actual prison. Some kind of dungeon? Her questions piled up, and she started hauling herself over to the bars to desperately look for any answers. Her eyes widened as they started to process her surroundings.</p><p>Within the center of the room was a simple desk dimly visible through a purple haze, and at it sat a long-eared, long-nosed goblin of a man with an unnaturally wide smile and bloodshot eyes.</p><p>
  <strong>“Trickster. Welcome to my Velvet Room.”</strong>
</p><p>The voice was a gravelly rumbling, but something about it felt older and larger in a way she could not explain. She just stared at the creature uncomprehendingly for a few moments until suddenly a loud ringing smack caused her to stagger back off the bars with a wild cry.</p><p>That’s when Akira noticed the two little girls in unfamiliar blue uniforms standing in front of her cell. The one that had smacked the bars pulled the rod back and shouted brashly, “You’re in the presence of our Master, Inmate! No staring! And stand up straight!”</p><p>The other one gave Akira a look she couldn’t entirely parse - was it sad? - and said, “The you in reality is fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream.”</p><p>Well, that part made sense at least. Because nothing else here did. Akira gingerly picked herself up off the ground, mindful of her chains, and approached the bars without leaning on them. “Where am I?”</p><p><strong>“This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a contract may enter,”</strong> the being at the table told her. <strong>“I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well.”</strong></p><p>Akira was generally not a lucid dreamer. But she felt more awake right now than she had during much of the time she’d spent at juvenile hall. And though her dreams rarely made sense, they made no sense in a way that made sense. If that made sense.</p><p>This made no sense.</p><p>
  <strong>“I summoned you to speak of important matters. They involve your life, as well.”</strong>
</p><p>“Important matters?” Akira asked.</p><p>Instead of answering immediately, the being swept its head around and seemed to take in its surroundings. <strong>“Still, this is a surprise. The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a prisoner of fate.”</strong></p><p>Well, when you put it that way.</p><p>
  <strong>“In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you.”</strong>
</p><p>“Ruin?” Akira repeated.</p><p>She suddenly heard a harsh snort from her anger, which seemed to reverberate through the bars of this place in a way that felt nearly physical. <em>Akira Kurusu is on the case! She’ll repeat short phrases she just heard until she gets to the cold, hard truth.</em></p><p>It took a moment to muffle her frustration, during which Igor’s rictus grin seemed to grow wider. She had an uncomfortable feeling it had heard her inner dialogue.</p><p>
  <strong>“I speak of the end to everything.”</strong>
</p><p>Did it mean her death? She kept quiet this time.</p><p>
  <strong>“However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be rehabilitated. Rehabilitated toward freedom. That is your only means to avoid ruin.”</strong>
</p><p>“There’s that word again,” she muttered. Figures she’d get this lecture here, too, of all places.</p><p>
  <strong>“Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?”</strong>
</p><p>“The distortion of the world? What does that even mean?”</p><p>Igor continued like she had said nothing. <strong>“Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation.”</strong></p><p>At this, the girls that had been standing quietly at attention turned about and faced her.</p><p>
  <strong>“Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline, to your left is Justine. They serve as wardens here.”</strong>
</p><p>Akira looked them over. Caroline’s face was stern as she growled, “Hmph. Struggle as hard as you like, Inmate.”</p><p>Justine followed that mildly with, “The duty of wardens is to protect Inmates. We are also your collaborators…that is, if you remain obedient.”</p><p>
  <strong>“I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion.”</strong>
</p><p>The twins did another about face, turning toward Igor.</p><p><strong>“Now, it seems the night is waning…It is almost time.”</strong> It drummed its gloved fingers on the desk.<strong> “Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually…”</strong></p><p>At that a bell rang, startling Akira into a flinch. As the ringing crescendoed, she heard Caroline’s voice shouting, “Get back to sleep, Inmate!”</p><p>And the next thing Akira knew, she was awake, staring once more at the rafters as early morning light filtered in through the window.</p><p>“What the fuck,” she said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Detour</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akira walks to school.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's where things start to get interesting. The next chapter should be fun, and I'll probably have it up in the next day or so. Cheers!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/11/2016<br/>
Morning</p><p>##</p><p>Akira wouldn’t have believed there was anything that could displace the nervousness that had been steadily building toward the first real days of her probation, but it was difficult to shake the dream she’d had the night before. Something about it felt significant in a way that defied all reason.</p><p>She also had to consider that strange experience on her way to Leblanc that first day here in a new light. Between the two events, she began to wrestle with the idea that maybe she <em>was</em> going crazy. Cracking under the stress.</p><p>It didn’t feel like it - at least, not in that way - but how do you really <em>know?</em> The world had stopped making sense to her long before she started having demon visions and magical dreams.</p><p>Akira was already up, clean, and dressed by the time Sakura arrived. He found her sitting at the counter going over her Shujin papers for the third time. As he grabbed one of his green aprons, he asked, “All set?”</p><p>“I think so,” Akira responded, brows furrowed. “I’m paranoid I’m going to mess something up. I’m going to be leaving really early, just in case.”</p><p>“Well, better safe than sorry,” Sakura said agreeably as he started the morning preparations for the store. “But try not to work yourself up too much about it. It is just the first day.”</p><p>“Any day could be the last day, if I slip up,” she muttered tiredly, a little bitterness creeping into her tone. She felt foolish the moment it left her mouth, and shook her head ruefully. “Sorry. I’m still waking up. I should be fine after some coffee.”</p><p>When Akira looked up from the papers a couple of seconds later to ask him jokingly if he’d gotten the hint, she saw him quietly preparing her breakfast with a hint of a grimace on his face. He looked kind of embarrassed.</p><p>And now she felt a bit ashamed to have exposed him to her cynicism while he was just trying to be nice. She wanted to apologize, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Knowing her, there was a good chance she would just make it worse anyway.</p><p>Once Sakura brought over the curry, she reflected that one way she could apologize was to visibly enjoy the food and coffee, if his initial reaction yesterday was anything to go by. This was not difficult, as it was very good food to begin with and the very good food experience was still fresh to her. Akira wasn’t sure she could’ve prevented herself from mauling the meal like a bear coming out of hibernation if she’d tried. Which she hadn’t.</p><p>It seemed to have the intended effect. Sakura watched her with that amused, confident look he seemed to don when it came to food and coffee. Eventually she pushed the empty dishes back, groaning, “God, I really needed that.”</p><p>After that, they chatted amicably in that way two awkward people who’ve known each other for three days through unusual circumstances and were stuck together for the foreseeable future did. Eventually, Akira had to leave. He asked her to flip the sign on the way out, and she had a little smile on her face as she did so.</p><p>That little smile lasted longer than most of hers did these days. It made it almost all the way to the first station, until it started abruptly pouring - just in time to soak her before she was able to make it in. She hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella.</p><p>Naturally, checking the weather on her phone revealed that the rain should not have been a surprise. Akira sighed, and missed the days when she felt confident calling herself a detail-oriented person.</p><p>Eventually, she made her way to the final stop, and began the unpleasant walk in the rain to school. Grateful for her phone’s GPS, she took to dashing from cover to cover. Eventually, she decided to take a break beneath an awning just a few blocks away. She was still early enough that she had plenty of time.</p><p>It was only after Akira got her breath again that she noticed there was another girl under the awning, properly attired with an umbrella, looking at her phone with a small frown. She had some of the most gorgeous blond hair Akira had ever seen. The girl seemed to notice her at the same time.</p><p>“Oh! Did you forget your umbrella?” She asked. It seemed genuine, but Akira detected an undercurrent of amusement there, too. Her anger weighed it for a moment before conceding that she probably did look pretty funny right now.</p><p>So Akira laughed instead, saying, “Sure did.”</p><p>“I don’t think I’ve seen you at school before,” the blond girl mentioned casually. “Someone mentioned we were getting a transfer. Is that you?”</p><p>It took a moment to realize the girl <em>was</em> wearing what appeared to be a Shujin uniform. Just one with a very…creative interpretation of the school’s dress code. Akira had not pegged Shujin as a school with a lax uniform policy. Then again, she mused while looking at the girl, who was gonna tell her to stop?</p><p>“Yeah, that’s me. Akira Kurusu,” she introduced herself with a small bow.</p><p>The girl just smiled at her, and said, “Ann Takamaki. Nice to meet you.”</p><p>It felt alien to be having a normal conversation with someone who didn’t know about Akira’s record. But it wasn’t unpleasant. Ann seemed nice. Why not try to be friends with her?</p><p>So she opened her mouth to respond in kind when suddenly they both turned to the sound of a car coming to a stop at the curb next to them.</p><p>Akira noticed Ann tense up at the exact moment she did.</p><p>There was a well-built man in the car, leaning toward the window with a pleasant expression on his face. “Ann! How’s your morning?”</p><p>“Besides the weather, it’s been good,” Ann replied, face set with the fakest smile Akira had seen in a while.</p><p>The man laughed. “No kidding. Want a ride?”</p><p>“Uh, I’m actually waiting for Shiho…”</p><p>“Shiho’s going to understand if you get a ride with me,” he said, smiling, before gesturing toward his passenger door. “Come on, before you catch a cold!”</p><p>Akira watched Ann’s face carefully as a complicated series of expressions began to take form before she quashed them with that fake smile and nodded, walking to the car.</p><p>It might have just been Akira’s nerves, tuned so sensitively to this sort of thing that she saw threats and heard alarm bells everywhere. But something about this interaction seemed very wrong.</p><p><em>Stop her,</em> her anger urged, and for once, Akira didn’t ignore it. But in that moment she was desperately trying to figure out something to say, the man turned his eyes to her.</p><p>“How about you? Looks like you forgot your umbrella.”</p><p>His voice had taken on that friendly tone people used when they were just trying to be polite, but his eyes were another story. They seemed to search her; not obviously inappropriate, but as though he were sizing her up.</p><p>She suppressed a shudder as the fear took over, all thoughts of getting Ann out of that car gone. Now she just wanted to get the hell away from here. “N-no thank you.”</p><p>“Suit yourself!” He said in that pleasant tone, before driving off. Akira watched Ann as he did, and saw that she kept her head down, not looking at her or the man as they left.</p><p>Akira stood there under the awning, getting her fear back under control, feeling the familiar shame of cowardice spreading through her.</p><p><em>You used to be better than this,</em> the cage in her gut shook. It seemed even more pissed off than usual. <em>Sometimes I find it hard to believe that you’re the same person that tried to save that woman, all those months ago.</em></p><p><em>And look where that got me,</em> her logic replied bitterly, but there was no heart in it. It was hard to argue with a thought that had been floating in the back of her mind as long as that one had. Sometimes it felt like she was an old doll from early childhood, recently rediscovered; only good for nostalgia, the rest of its value stripped by the entropic passage of time.</p><p>Akira’s indulgent self-loathing was interrupted then by the rapid footsteps of someone running through the rain toward her. Her adrenaline spiked as she took a step back to face whoever it was.</p><p>It was another student, also blond, also severely in violation of dress code, skidding to a halt on the other side of the awning as he watched the car carrying Ann turn the corner a few blocks down. His breath came in fast as he leaned on his legs, exclaiming, “Goddamn it! That pervy son of a bitch.”</p><p>Akira just looked askance at him, not really sure whether to run now while he was distracted or to stay still and hope he didn’t notice her.</p><p>But he did notice her, and his look went a bit darker as he stood straight. Akira was pretty tall for a woman, but this guy still had a couple inches on her. “Heard that, huh? Gonna run right to Kamoshida with it? Bet you could score some real brownie points with him if you did.”</p><p>Literally couldn’t even make it to school without two back-to-back creepy encounters with guys. Her fucking life.</p><p>The dam of her self-control cracked. Her fear wailed as she shoved it aside, letting the anger fuel her expression and words. “I don’t even know who you are. Or who that is. And I really couldn’t give a shit either way.”</p><p>The guy’s dark look slipped into a shocked one as she turned on her heels and began stalking off toward the school, getting out her phone just in case. And what a surprise, that fucking purple virus app was back again. She felt like taking her head in her hands and howling at the sky. Would it really be too much to ask for just <em>one</em> morning free of bullshit?</p><p><em>You know the answer to that,</em> her anger laughed, glorying in its brief freedom.</p><p>And she did, which is why she wasn’t surprised when she heard running behind her again. She spun to face him, not sure if she was getting ready to scream or claw his eyes out or both.</p><p>Akira was not sure what she looked like, but it was enough to bring the blond boy to an abrupt halt. He held up a hand in what seemed to be a conciliatory gesture, and said, “Whoa! I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to spook ya. Or…to be rude. I wanted to apologize for jumpin’ to conclusions.”</p><p>He looked sheepish, and had one of those faces that seemed to hide little. She sighed, not exactly at ease but less certain she’d be going back to jail today. “Don’t worry about it. I’m on edge, too. First day and all that.”</p><p>“So you’re the transfer?” He asked, slowly catching up to her as she turned to continue walking to school. Thankfully, he kept a bit of distance.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“That explains why you don’t know who Kamoshida is,” he said grimly, keeping pace with her. “I guess I’ll give you this warning now, before the rumor mill gets to you. Dude’s bad news. Like, abusive. I’d try to stay away, if I were you.”</p><p>Akira stopped, and he did with her, regardless of the fact they were still standing in the rain. She began, “So that girl…”</p><p>The boy’s face darkened again. “He’s got his claws in her somehow. Either that, or she’s changed a lot since we last knew each other.”</p><p><em>Told you,</em> her anger fumed. Her insides roiled. She had no proof, she tried to tell herself. But something about what the boy was saying felt right, based on the gut feeling she’d had during that brief interaction with the man.</p><p>The boy took her silence as an invitation to continue. “He’s the gym teacher and volleyball coach. He won a gold medal at the Olympics, so he basically struts around like he’s king and the school’s his castle.”</p><p>Akira felt a weird, painful mental displacement. She wasn’t sure how else to describe it. Grasping her head, she slowly began to walk toward another awning.</p><p>“Great, a headache,” the boy complained as he followed her out of the rain. “Just what this day needed.”</p><p>“No kidding,” she muttered, as the feeling began to pass. She sighed. So the gym teacher might be a predator. Good start to the year. “Well, I need to get to school. Thanks for the warning.”</p><p>“Hey, no worries,” the boy said, and gave her a wide, genuine smile that left her feeling a bit taken aback. “But if you don’t mind, I’ll walk with you. Only got a couple blocks to go, anyway.”</p><p>Here is normally where Akira’s nerves would have shot into overdrive, and she would have come up with an excuse to wait or go ahead so she could walk separately.</p><p>But she remembered the look on his face when she’d glared at him, and the glorious feeling of speaking her mind for once. The way it hadn’t brought everything crashing down on her, or even seemed to have upset this guy.</p><p>Between that and his dopey, honest face, she merely felt ambivalent about his continued presence, rather than that razor tension that accompanied most of her interactions with men alone. So she shored up her courage and said, “Okay.”</p><p>And with that, they were off. After a few moments of walking, the guy blurted, “Oh yeah! I’m Ryuji Sakamoto. Figured it was rude not to introduce myself.”</p><p>“Akira Kurusu,” she replied. “Nice to meet you.”</p><p>Ryuji grinned at her, and she felt the corners of her mouth curling a bit. Before they could continue, though, they turned the corner and Akira’s mouth dropped completely open. In her peripheral vision she saw Ryuji look confused until he followed her gaze, after which his did too.</p><p>The school should have been there, and the sky should have been a dreary, overcast gray. Instead stood a medieval castle in the middle of Tokyo, set across a sickly purple backdrop of haze and discolored sky.</p><p>“What the fuck,” she said.</p><p>Ryuji’s expression seemed to mirror that thought.</p><p>She wasn’t even sure how to process this. After a few moments of silent staring, Ryuji said, “So, I’m pretty sure that’s where our school is supposed to be.”</p><p>Akira glanced at him with disbelief written full on her face.</p><p>“I mean,” he continued quickly, flushing a bit. “I go to school here. I know the way. And that is…a castle.”</p><p>Akira snorted out a pained laugh, before settling her gaze back on the unnatural scenery. “Okay, that’s a castle. And the sky is purple. Now what?”</p><p>While Ryuji seemed to be formulating a response, she went to double check her GPS, to make sure she didn’t take a wrong turn and end up in Narnia or something. This was when she frowned, realizing her phone’s GPS wasn’t working.</p><p>Instead, she dialed Sakura’s number. No service. “That’s not good,” she muttered.</p><p>Ryuji had caught on, and checked his phone as well. “Same here.”</p><p>Akira sighed and put her phone away.</p><p>“Maybe we should check it out?” Ryuji suggested tentatively. “Maybe it’s a movie set or something. Or maybe something contaminated the rain, with like, drugs or something.”</p><p>Right. “I’m not sure going in there is a good idea. Can’t you feel that?”</p><p>He frowned. “Feel what?”</p><p>“It’s…” she struggled to put what she was feeling into words. Something about the castle felt twisted, menacing. “Wrong.”</p><p>Ryuji’s turn to laugh nervously. “Well, I mean, yeah. It’s supposed to be a school.”</p><p>Akira fixed him with another glare, and he looked like a deer in headlights. Then she sighed again, looking back up at the castle. It felt dangerous...but she couldn't deny her curiosity. Privately, she noted how the purple hue of the sky and castle seemed a close match to the haze around Igor's desk. “Fine. Let’s check it out.”</p><p>His grin came back. “This has gotta be just some kind of crazy misunderstanding, right? I’m sure it’ll be fine.”</p><p>It was not fine.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Awakening</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akira embarks on a peaceful journey of self-reflection in the face of adversity.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/11/2016<br/>
Morning?</p><p>##</p><p>For the second time in twelve hours (and third time in a week), Akira woke up in a cell.</p><p>There was something different about this one, though. No kids or Igor, weird padding or coloration, no cryptic rambling. Just dank, dripping cobblestones and rusty iron bars. Also Ryuji, his left cheek still red from where she’d accidentally punched him.</p><p>In her defense, he had been right in her face when she woke up. She still apologized for it.</p><p>“What happened?” Akira asked him after she caught her breath and was able to start processing her surroundings.</p><p>“Uh,” he said carefully. “Well. You were right. This place is wrong.”</p><p>As if to punctuate that statement, a hideous howling echoed from somewhere deeper in the dungeon. It sounded like someone in pain. Akira shuddered, but said, “Continue.”</p><p>“Do you remember those guys in the armor?” He asked, sounding reluctant. “In that big hall?”</p><p>After a moment, she did, and she flinched from the memory.</p><p>They’d walked in, and after a few moments of confused speculation, guards had flooded the room and arrested them. It got fuzzy after that, but what little she remembered wasn’t good.</p><p>Akira looked up at him and nodded, before saying, “I remember them saying we were trespassing. Then waking up here.”</p><p>“When they came at us, you sort of…froze up? I think you had a panic attack,” Ryuji said, looking at the ground. “My mom has had a few of those. That’s what it looked like, anyway. They brought us down here, and you were unconscious by then. That was a little while ago.”</p><p>She nodded, then went to stand up. Ryuji stepped back, looking a little alarmed. “Don’t you think you should rest a little? You just woke up, and I’ve already searched this place top to bottom.”</p><p>And spend a moment longer than she had to in another <em>fucking</em> cell? “I’m fine. We need to get out of here.”</p><p>At that, he let her stand. The cell was pretty bare; the cot she’d woken up on, some empty barrels, miscellaneous debris. She shuddered as she realized there wasn’t even a toilet. Ryuji took a seat on the cot as she walked up to the bars separating them from the rest of this…dungeon.</p><p>Akira could not help but wonder if she’d find Igor, were they to escape and search this place.</p><p>Of course, she didn’t have long to search or wonder. She heard an echoing clanking emanating from a far end of the dungeon, getting closer, and she stepped back from the bars as figures started to filter into view. “They’re coming,” she muttered.</p><p>Ryuji looked both frustrated and afraid as he stood up from the cot. “Should we hide? What the hell is even going on here?”</p><p>“I don’t know. But I don’t think hiding is going to help,” Akira replied tiredly. That sense of disconnection started to come in strong as the familiar feelings started coming back. In a cell, all alone, footsteps approaching, signifying nothing good. Never anything good.</p><p>She wasn’t alone this time, but it didn’t make her feel any better.</p><p>Of course, even in her dissociated state, she still found it in her to be shocked at who actually appeared in front of their cage.</p><p>It was that teacher, the one who had picked up Ann. Except now his eyes were fixed in a smug, predatory expression and glowing a bright gold. He wore…a speedo and a huge, fluffy cape.</p><p>“Kamoshida…?” She heard Ryuji ask in a flabbergasted voice.</p><p>“So these are the intruders in my domain. I should have known,” Kamoshida remarked in an amused voice. “The fallen track star and the transfer slut. How fitting.”</p><p>Akira took an involuntary step back as Ryuji shouted, “Hey, asshole! This ain’t funny! Let us out!”</p><p>Whispering erupted behind Kamoshida as the armored soldiers muttered about gall and propriety. Meanwhile, Kamoshida’s brow just raised.</p><p>“I don’t think you understand the position you’re in,” he smiled as he said it in that untouchable tone. “You’ve always been unwelcome in my castle, Sakamoto. I’ve tolerated your trespassing for too long. And now you raise your voice against me? Your sentence will be death.”</p><p>Ryuji’s eyes got even wider. “What…?”</p><p>Kamoshida’s eyes shifted to Akira, who was pressed up against the side wall near the cot, as though trying to avoid attention. “And you. Kurusu, wasn’t it? Why Kobayakawa thought it was a good idea to bring filth like you into my castle, I have no idea. You lessen my achievements with your very presence.”</p><p>Akira found it impossible to breathe.</p><p>“Of course, I am nothing if not a magnanimous king,” he said soothingly, wearing a sickening smile, hungry eyes roaming over her with no hint of the shrewdness or subtlety she’d seen in them earlier that morning. “I can think of ways you could earn your place. They’d be nothing new to you. And you’d be at the right hand of the King. What do you say?</p><p>Deep within, she could feel her anger protesting her silence, but it was drowned in her fear.</p><p>After a few moments, he sighed, looking a little disappointed. “Well, we can discuss it more after the execution. I’m sure we can come to an arrangement. Guards!”</p><p>The door opened and Kamoshida’s misshapen armored goons began filtering into the cell. Ryuji rushed forward suddenly, slamming into one of them and knocking him off balance as he yelled, <em>“Run!”</em> at Akira. His resistance was short lived, as a second guard slugged him across the face, and then slammed him up against the wall with the help of a third.</p><p>Akira hadn’t moved. There had been a brief opening, but she was frozen in place, watching the scene, unable to break through her fear.</p><p>“Not all my subjects are as stubborn as you, Sakamato.” Kamoshida laughed as he followed his guards into the cell. “Kurusu over there seems to know her place.”</p><p>His guards made way for him as he stood in front of the trapped boy, and his grin went wide. “Man, I’ve been wanting to do this for ages!”</p><p>Then he sunk his fist into Ryuji’s gut, <em>hard</em>. Akira could hear the impact across the cell, along with Ryuji’s choking gasp. A second fist followed the first, then a third, and so on.</p><p>At that moment, the room seemed to go dark, and the sounds of Ryuji’s beating felt muted. Then, a sparkling blue butterfly flew across her vision, and while her uncomprehending mind was still processing that, a kind voice echoed in her head.</p><p>
  <strong>“This is truly an unjust game…Your chances of winning are almost none.”</strong>
</p><p>The voice sounded familiar, but she was in no state to place it. Its words rang with a truth she couldn’t understand or deny.</p><p>
  <strong>“But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you…”</strong>
</p><p>The butterfly disappeared after a moment, and the scene before her came back in full force.</p><p><em>So this is your plan?</em> Her anger exclaimed disgustedly, finally breaking through her fear. <em>This boy tried to clear a path for you at the cost of his own life, and you’re going to repay him by standing there and watching him get beaten to death.</em></p><p>
  <em>I can’t do anything.</em>
</p><p>Instead of mocking the helplessness in that statement, the anger simply replied in frustration with, <em>You know what comes next, right?</em></p><p>She did. <em>What can I do? I’m too weak.</em></p><p><em>Weak?</em> At this, the anger reached a crescendo. <em>Tell me this, oh cowardly one. If you’re so weak, then why is acting weak so FUCKING DIFFICULT?</em></p><p>Akira’s eyes widened as she felt something break inside her.</p><p>
  <em>And tell me this, while we watch our new friend die. Why do you really doubt your ability to get through this probation?</em>
</p><p>Akira moaned, closing her eyes and grasping her hands in her head. The force of her anger seemed to fill her very being.</p><p>
  <em>It’s because you know you’re going to snap. Eventually, you’re going to reach your limit and lash out. Right?</em>
</p><p>She sunk to her knees, the pain in her head pulsing with increasing rapidity. Her moans became a strangled gasping.</p><p>
  <em>And I can hardly blame you. Talk about a stacked deck! This whole fucking rotten world has it in for you. </em>
</p><p>She could feel her throat tearing as a scream issued from it. Once she started, she found she could not stop. Her head rocked back and forth in her hands, but nothing could alleviate the singing pain in her brain.</p><p>
  <em>You’re a cosmic plaything. One of far too many. There to be exploited and thrown away, at the mercy of the whims of the strong.</em>
</p><p>Akira’s screams cut off as she brought her fists slamming down onto the cell floor, impacting the gray cobblestone with such force that it sent a spiderweb of cracks off in every direction.</p><p>
  <em>Haven’t you had enough yet?</em>
</p><p>“Yes,” Akira hissed through grating teeth.</p><p>
  <em>Then vow to me.</em>
</p><p>Then, it felt like the focal point of her pain shifted from her brain to her face. Something was suffocating her, smothering her in a way that went well beyond oxygen flow. Something that had always been there, that she just hadn’t noticed until this moment. She could not fathom how she could have tolerated it for so long.</p><p>She brought her hands back up and felt a sleek, cold metal on her face. Snarling, she gripped it in both hands and <em>tore,</em> a cleansing agony coursing through her as she severed it from her face in a shower of blood and incandescent blue flames.</p><p>Akira was engulfed. All she could see was fire, but the only burn she felt was her weakness melting away. Her mouth twisted into a wild grin as strength and truth flooded her. It was intoxicating.</p><p>As the fire cleared, a being stood facing her, floating between her and the shocked rest of the room. Much taller than Akira, she was as pale as marble, wearing some sort of sleek black-and-white ancient Greek ensemble, complete with toga, layered with armor and wrapped in chains. A distinct blue flame burned beneath a stylized metal helmet where her face might be.</p><p>“Defiance of the gods is always a dangerous proposition,” the being told her calmly. Her deep, feminine voice was somehow as warm as it was cold. She held out a xiphos by the blade, hilt facing Akira. “But sometimes they don’t give you a choice. Take my power and disperse this rabble. Then, we’ll see what we can do about that hell-bound heart of ours.”</p><p>Akira grabbed the sword with her right hand, and she swore she saw a smile in the flames beneath that helmet. Then, the being vanished in another flurry of blue pyrotechnics centered around the sword.</p><p>When it cleared, she stared at the weapon for a moment, before taking in the scene beyond it. Kamoshida stood back behind several of his guards, face confused and aghast. Ryuji looked like hell, but he’d been let go at some point and had shuffled into the far corner, watching her with wide, terrified eyes. Akira grinned at him, but judging by his reaction she was pretty sure she looked like a madwoman.</p><p>Her grin seemed to bring Kamoshida back into reality.</p><p>“Guards! Kill her, now!” He snapped.</p><p><em>Footwork is key,</em> came the being’s voice from within. Akira understood the words as quick as instinct. <em>I’ll guide your steps.</em></p><p>Her smile not fading, she took a step forward to meet the nearest approaching guard. She was shown two different likely ways to step around his swing and counter attack, but disregarded them. There was a flare of blue light as she called for her newfound strength, interrupting the guard’s overhand swing by smashing him dead center with the fist wrapped around her sword.</p><p>The force of it should have shattered her hand, but it barely even hurt. The guard’s breastplate on the other hand was crushed inward as he was catapulted through the room, crashing through another guard before knocking the bars of the cell clean out of the wall in a shower of dust and cobblestone shards, sending both of them sprawling. </p><p>Suddenly, the one she had struck seemed to fall apart, black ichor leaking out of its armor as it ceased moving.</p><p><em>You’re supposed to use the sharp end,</em> her other self told her, exasperated.</p><p>Akira laughed joyously as she easily stepped under another guard’s swing, using his momentum to plunge the blade into the shoulder gap in the armor, sinking deep upward into the creature’s head. She then kicked him into another guard, sending them both crashing into a cobblestone wall. Finally, she swatted aside the strike from the last one still near her before grabbing it by the helmet and spiking it into the ground with such force that it left a small crater.</p><p>She followed that up by crushing its head beneath her heel<em>.</em></p><p>Now her nearest opponent was Kamoshida. She took a step toward him, twirling her sword. He staggered back out of the now open-air cell, staring at her with a shocked expression.</p><p><em>This one is dangerous,</em> came the voice from within. <em>But your aggression has him off-balance. Press that advantage.</em></p><p>“I’ve thought over your offer,” Akira said, false cheer in her voice meshing unevenly with the wild undercurrent of anger and adrenaline. Her smile widened. “Would you like to hear my answer?”</p><p>His face blanched and he nearly fell over himself turning to run. While doing so, he screamed, “Guards!”</p><p>“Tch,” she muttered as the corridor suddenly filled with guards, manifesting from seemingly nowhere. Kamoshida kept on running, and she knew she wasn’t likely to catch up.</p><p><em>Your friend is no longer in the crossfire,</em> her other self pointed out.<em> Call me forth, and I’ll show you what I can do.</em></p><p>So Akira raised a gloved hand - (gloved?) - and snarled, <em>“Odessa!”</em></p><p>Her other self burst forth once more, wreathed in a corona of blue flame. This time the sword she held was her own. An insane part of Akira’s mind noted during all this that it was probably longer than was historically accurate.</p><p>Then she roared, <em>“Ravage them!”</em></p><p>Odessa did not need to be told twice.</p><p>There was a strange duality to the fight. On one hand, Akira was standing in the background, laughing and gesticulating like a lunatic, the pulsing drum of her heartbeat roaring in her ears and the rush of adrenaline fueling her mad orchestration of the violence.</p><p>On the other hand, she was Odessa, sleek, fast, strong, and calm. She moved through the battle like one part ballet dancer, one part bulldozer. Some of the guards inexplicably burst before she even reached them, reforming into stranger, stronger creatures, but it didn’t matter; Odessa shrugged off their flimsy opposition and took them all apart like a hurricane.</p><p>Eventually, Akira realized it was just them in the corridor, and Odessa reappeared in front of her. They stared at each other for a moment before her other self spoke.</p><p>“You’ve finally heeded your own resolve, and thus so have I. Do you know who I am?”</p><p>There was awe in Akira’s voice as she replied, “You’re my anger.”</p><p>“Not quite,” Odessa laughed, which was odd coming from a being without a face. “I am you. And it’s <em>our</em> anger now.”</p><p>Akira’s grip tightened around her sword. “And what you said about our heart?”</p><p>“Neither of us are willing to accept fading away into the background suffering of the world,” Odessa said simply. “Nor can we abide how many others are forced to do the same. The path might lead us straight to hell, but the only other option is ruin.”</p><p>Akira nodded. “I understand.”</p><p>“Finally,” Odessa said, voice amused. “Now, just one last piece of advice I have to offer.”</p><p>“And what is that?”</p><p>Odessa leaned in to speak, and Akira could feel the warmth of her own strength in the words. “The fight is not over until you’ve won it. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.”</p><p>At this Odessa vanished, but Akira could still feel her nestled deep within her psyche. It was a comforting presence. Then, exhaustion suddenly hit her like a truck, causing her legs to abruptly buckle beneath her.</p><p>“A-are you alright?!” She heard Ryuji exclaim from behind her, and glanced over her shoulder. He was standing out of the cell now, though still a good distance behind her. She reflected that was probably a reasonable reaction.</p><p>“I think so. That took a lot out of me.” It was then Akira actually took in the state of the corridor around her. Bits of armor were scattered everywhere. Spattered black ichor coated the walls, floor, and ceiling, alongside deep gouges rent through the cobblestones in too many places to count. She also realized she had fought her way much farther down the corridor than she had thought. “I think I may have overdone it a bit.”</p><p>He just gaped at her for a moment before saying, “That was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. I felt like if I moved an inch I’d end up swatted like a fly.”</p><p>Being described as terrifying probably should not have made her heart swell with joy. But then again, she reflected as she fixed Ryuji with her battle grin, perhaps it was better to be terrifying than terrified.</p><p>This time the grin seemed infectious, and he returned it with a hysterical gleam in his eyes as he began to draw closer. After a moment, it faded a little. “But still. What was…all that? That thing that popped outta you? Kamoshida and those monsters? Your clothes?”</p><p>“I’m not…wait, clothes?”</p><p>“Yeah, your clothes changed after you, uh, spontaneously combusted.”</p><p>Akira looked down at her now wrinkled, dirty school uniform. She remembered a brief glimpse of her now bare hand, gloved in white as she called for Odessa. “Sorry. I have no idea what’s going on.”</p><p>Ryuji’s look contained more than a little disbelief, but he didn’t push it. Instead, he looked around again, as though remembering where they were. “So, uh, what now?”</p><p>Akira felt a bit more steady now, and stood up. Her gaze drifted to where Kamoshida had fled. “He went that way.”</p><p>He frowned a little. “You think he went for the exit?”</p><p>“Exit?” Akira was a little confused for a moment before the obvious hit her. “Oh, right. Yeah, we should probably leave.”</p><p>Ryuji opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, then shut it.</p><p>“Well,” Akira began, looking around. “Might as well get away from here. I’m sure he’ll send reinforcements soon enough.”</p><p>He sighed, nodding, and they took off in the opposite direction, moving as carefully as they could.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Figured this time I'd do the notes after the chapter, since I wanted to talk a little about Akira's persona. I went back and forth a lot on whether to go with Arsene or to go another route, and eventually decided this character was different enough that she probably warranted a different persona.</p><p>Odessa derives from a Greek word essentially meaning "wrathful," and is the feminine form of Odysseus, the Greek hero most of you are probably at least passingly familiar with; known for his guile and general defiance of gods, monsters and men. I thought it was pretty fitting, and I would enjoy hearing your opinions on my choice. Her capabilities and weaknesses are also very different from Arsene's, but we'll go into that in the fiction.</p><p>Cheers!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Morgana</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akira and Ryuji meet a friendly stray cat. Cute!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/11/2016<br/>
Morning?</p><p>##</p><p>Akira was not surprised that the more they saw, the less sense it all made.</p><p>For starters, it quickly became evident this dungeon had been built into some sort of elaborate cave system, including a subterranean river with an impressive current. After a random few twists and turns, something occurred to her. She glanced at Ryuji as they walked. He looked understandably tense.</p><p>“I should have asked already. Are you hurt?”</p><p>“Eh?” Ryuji looked a little surprised at the question. “No problem.”</p><p>Akira scoffed. “That guy beat the shit out of you.”</p><p>He rubbed the back of his head, looking a little sheepish. “Well, okay, it hurts a bit. But nothing’s broken or badly sprained, I can tell. I can keep up.”</p><p>She sighed, nodded, and then slowed down as they came to another bridge leading to another tunnel.</p><p>“Something up?” Ryuji asked from behind her.</p><p>“This place is a maze,” Akira said tiredly. “We should mark our path, so we don’t end up going in circles.”</p><p>“Oh,” Ryuji said, nodding. “So we should look for a knife or rock or something? Plenty of wood around we could carve into.”</p><p>She shook her head at that. “I’ve got this. I think.”</p><p>Then, Akira glanced over at a nearby wooden post. <em>Odessa, mind if I borrow that sword again?</em></p><p>
  <em>I am you, remember? You don’t need my permission. It’s your sword.</em>
</p><p>She frowned, and took a breath, remembering what it felt like to wield it, and tried to call back that feeling. She felt a murmur in the air around her. Then she held up her right hand, admiring the xiphos it was gripping.</p><p>“W-whoa!” Ryuji exclaimed from behind her. “Those clothes are back!”</p><p>At that, she looked down, and her eyes widened.</p><p>It reminded her in ways of Odessa’s layered armor and toga, but it was looser, lighter, and more comfortable. It was also a lot more black than white, complete with a deep black cloak she hadn’t even noticed was there until just then.</p><p>As she took in other parts of her outfit, she suddenly realized that she only felt her cloak at all when she was actively thinking about it. Otherwise, it felt as natural to her as her own skin. In fact, the whole outfit felt that way. She smiled slightly as she fiddled with her white gloves.</p><p>Glancing over, it looked like Ryuji was trying to decide on what to say. Akira spared him the effort by swiftly cutting an arrow into the post, nodding to him, and continuing across the bridge.</p><p>Of course, she only made it a few steps before the sword vanished from her hand and her clothes returned to normal. “Huh,” she muttered.</p><p>Ryuji caught up to her and looked as exasperated as he was nervous. “How the hell are you so calm about all this?”</p><p>Akira thought about it, and realized it was a pretty good question. “I’m not sure. I think my weirdometer broke when I got magical powers.”</p><p>He barked a surprised laugh at that. “I’ve got so many questions. But…now’s probably not the time.”</p><p>“Probably not.”</p><p>They continued. Eventually they were sickened by the sight of a boy their age in a cage, hanging over the river with some kind of torture device over his head. Farther on, they found more high school kids in a variety of outfits, cowering in locked cells. They spent some time trying to figure out how to free them, despite the cells’ occupants begging them to just leave before they got in trouble too.</p><p>At first, Akira called Odessa and tried to have her cut through the bars, but was shocked when her blade just sparked off them. For some inexplicable reason, the bars around these cells seemed to be virtually indestructable. She turned to Ryuji, who was standing apprehensively at a safe distance, and shook her head with a frustrated look on her face. After that, the approaching sound of guards forced them to move on.</p><p>It was lucky the guards were so loud - the echoing of their metal boots on cobblestone off the cavern walls gave them plenty of opportunity to hide or change course. It was frustrating though; so far they hadn’t seen any trace of anything that might be an exit. After a tense game of cat and mouse, they eventually came to another drawbridge; this one however seemed to be locked in place, with no visible mechanism. Ryuji fumed at a life-sized stone bust of Kamoshida’s head grinning from atop part of the bridge while Akira looked around.</p><p>“This is fucking ridiculous,” he muttered. “What is wrong with this place? What even <em>is</em> this place?”</p><p>They both jumped when another boyish voice came from the last cell at the end of the cavern. “Hey! You two! You’re not from here, right?”</p><p>They glanced at each other before going to check out the voice. It was…a cat? Something like a cat. Small, bipedal, with a ridiculously shaped head and a cute yellow neckerchief. Really weird, but relative to the rest of this place, this didn’t really phase her.</p><p>Ryuji on the other hand seemed a lot more shocked. “What is that thing? Some kind of monster cat?”</p><p>“I’m not a cat!” It snapped. “Or a monster. And I’m not with those guards, either. So you gotta let me out! The keys are right there!”</p><p>Ryuji glanced at Akira, uncertain. “I mean, doesn’t this thing look pretty much along the same lines of those weird monsters we saw earlier? I don’t trust this.”</p><p>The cat turned its eyes to her, pleading. “C’mon. I’m locked up! How could I be your enemy? You want to get out of here, right? I can guide you out!”</p><p>Something turned over in Akira at the look on its face. The desperation of a creature trapped in a cage. All of a sudden she didn’t care whether the thing helped them or not. She turned and stooped to grab the keys.</p><p>“You sure about this?” Ryuji said, eyes wider.</p><p>Akira nodded. “If it’s hostile, I’ll fight it. If not, I’m not going to leave it here to rot.”</p><p>Ryuji didn’t look entirely convinced, but nodded as he took several steps back. The cat looked up at her with shining eyes while she fumbled with the lock, and exclaimed, “I knew with one look that you had a heart of gold! Thank you, my lady!”</p><p>“Please don’t call me that,” Akira muttered as she popped the cell door open, standing back as she did so.</p><p>The creature tottered out, stretching widely with a smile on its face. “Freedom! At last!”</p><p>Ryuji inched a little bit farther back.</p><p>After a long stretch, the creature turned toward Akira. “And it’s all thanks to you! Now it’s time to keep my end of the bargain. You guys should keep close and quiet.”</p><p>Then it turned and began walking toward the bridge. Ryuji kept backing off, keeping his distance. The cat saw this and scoffed. “Just watch. I’ll show you. Bet you guys are wondering how to lower this bridge, right?”</p><p>Akira and Ryuji shared glances. The cat nodded, took a brief look at the bridge, and turned to her. “See that ugly statue? Pull down on its mouth.”</p><p>She made a face at that, but walked over and did it. To her surprise, the jaw seemed to pull down, distending the bust into an expression that would have been comical if that face hadn’t just been lodged forever in Akira’s nightmares under half an hour ago. She heard the whirring of invisible mechanisms beneath the surface, and then the bridge dropped into place. It made a crashing noise as it did so, but she didn’t think that was likely to carry too far over the river.</p><p>“What the fuck? Who even builds something like that?” Ryuji asked in an exasperated voice. Akira found herself echoing his question in her head.</p><p>The not-cat snorted, and just said, “Amateur. Just follow me! I know how to get out of here.”</p><p>He took off then, and they hurried to catch up. He led them down a pair of corridors, looking confident the whole way, until suddenly they heard reverberating voices of the guards coming from just up ahead, around a corner.</p><p>“Damn it,” the not-cat hissed. “They’ve put up a guard. And some are approaching from the rear, too. We’re going to have to break through.”</p><p>Akira didn’t hear anyone coming from behind them, but this thing <em>was</em> something that at least resembled a cat. A strong sense of hearing or smell would hardly be the weirdest thing she’d encountered here so far. So she nodded as Ryuji protested, and walked around the corner to face the ones blocking their path.</p><p>She heard the not-cat exclaiming something, but any understanding was lost in the rush of tearing her mask off and the ensuing flood of power.</p><p>The room was wider than the preceding corridors, connecting beyond a rusty gate to what looked like a less dilapidated staircase leading up. It took a moment for the guards to spot her, during which she’d been able to close most of the gap. As they turned to look at the disturbance, her foot impacted with the one on her left, sending him crashing into a nearby wall.</p><p>Spinning to attack the other, she was surprised when it burst before her sword even met it; it was then she remembered that some of these things took on weirder forms, and jumped back on instinct.</p><p>It was a good call, because a moment later a long spear swept an arc through the area she’d just occupied, wielded by a comically large horseman in full armor.</p><p><em>“Ha!”</em> It roared as she righted herself. “I’m glad to see you, little thief. I look forward to the King’s boon when I bring him your head!”</p><p>Akira felt her face snarl into a grin at the challenge, but before she could leap back in, she felt warmth rapidly approaching from her left. Giving an involuntary hoarse shout, she threw herself backwards, out of the way of a sizable gout of flame streaking through the air.</p><p><em>Pay attention,</em> Odessa told her coldly. <em>These two are a step above the wisps we fought earlier, and you’re already weakened. Your strength alone will not carry the day.</em></p><p>The other one that she’d struck into the wall had reformed too, she realized with chagrin. She kept moving, but was able to get enough of a look to see that it appeared to be some kind of Halloween monster with a pumpkin head, charging up another flame in its lantern. Even in the heat of the moment, she found herself laughing incredulously at it.</p><p>Akira wanted to finish the pumpkin monster first, but found it more difficult than she expected; she sent Odessa to clash with the intervening horseman once, twice, and three times before being forced to leap aside by another blast of flame. Odessa seemed to be much better at reading the flow of physical combat than…magic, or whatever it was.</p><p><em>Magic is unpredictable, and laden with hidden costs and dangers,</em> her other self said primly, with just a hint of defensiveness. <em>Give me a slavering beast or a villain with a blade any day.</em></p><p>Akira needed to change the game. She went on the defensive, looking for ways around their advantages, when suddenly she felt a surging rush of wind whistle past her, the force of it causing her to stagger slightly.</p><p>She could see it, a green haze to the wind lending it almost solid weight as it crashed into the pumpkin creature, sending him careening off the wall again and leaving him dazed on the ground. Glancing over, she saw the cat creature, paw extended, with a bulbous rapier-wielding being standing behind him.</p><p>The cat caught her glance and shouted, “I’ll take care of that one! You keep the big guy busy, and I’ll flank him once I’m done!”</p><p>Akira couldn’t help smiling as she nodded, before dashing for the distracted horseman. He intercepted her charge with his spear, swinging it in another wide arc, but she’d anticipated that; stopping short at the last moment, the spear whistled past her ineffectually, and she leapt up, grasping it at the base tightly with her left hand as she sunk the blade as far as she could into the horse’s head.</p><p>The creature roared, rearing up, and Akira flared blue as she kicked off its torso to be out of range of the monster’s hooves. Her smile was still there as she landed, skidding a short ways across the ground; she definitely had its attention now. The thing looked furious.</p><p>She then called for her defenses and went for it again, keeping just out of its range, only striking at clear weaknesses, and overall wasting its time. By the second repetition of this, it had gone berserk, and had eyes only for her. This was why it wasn’t prepared for the gust of primal wind slamming into it from the side, sending it staggering, completely off balance.</p><p>Akira lunged on instinct, shouting, <em>“Finish him!”</em></p><p>Out burst Odessa, already swinging in a downward arc. The wounded monster’s howling was cut off as the blade swept through the knight’s neck like it was nothing, causing black ichor to shower much of the room as it collapsed into a pile of scrap metal and goop.</p><p>For a moment, there was just the glorious feeling of a hard-won triumph, and then she found herself on her knees again, gasping for air.</p><p>“…Are you okay?” She realized someone was talking to her, after a few moments. Looking up, she saw the not-cat looking her over with concerned eyes, and Ryuji running to catch up to them.</p><p>She just nodded as she continued trying to catch her breath.</p><p>“That was totally reckless!” The creature exclaimed. “If I hadn’t been there to back you up, they might have killed you.”</p><p>Her cheeks reddened as Akira felt flustered, heart and lungs still working hard. “Sorry. I...didn’t realize you could fight.”</p><p>“Well,” it said haltingly. “I can. And until we get out of here, we fight like a team! You’re almost out of gas anyway. Another fight like that and you’d be dead for sure.”</p><p>Akira nodded. Part of her reflected that she felt more afraid of the prospect she might have left Ryuji alone to these monsters than she did of the idea that she had almost died. Which, really, she had. Several times; any of those attacks she’d dodged might have killed her. So why did she still feel so great about it?</p><p><em>This is not a puzzle you have time to solve right now</em>, Odessa reminded her.</p><p>And as if on cue, Ryuji got closer and hissed, “I think they’re coming! Let’s go!”</p><p>They both looked to her, and she managed to find it in her to stand and nod. They continued to run, getting through the bars with the keys on the wall and making their way up the stairs.</p><p>“Guess we’re still in the castle,” Akira mused as they found themselves stalking down a luxurious hallway.</p><p>Ryuji moaned. “When is this stuff gonna start making sense?”</p><p>“Shh!” The cat shushed them. “We’re getting close. Don’t get us caught now.”</p><p>Eventually they ended up coming to the great hall they had entered in the first place, and it was conspicuously empty. “That looks like a trap,” Akira stated, keeping her eyes peeled from the shadows of their corridor.</p><p>“It does, but I’m not sensing any shadows,” the cat replied, pointing to a door across the way. “I think we’ve got an opening. Where we’re going is right across the hall, through that door. Even if they found us here, I think we could make it out.”</p><p>Akira sighed. She was dead tired. “What are shadows? Those things?”</p><p>“Yeah, the monsters,” it replied. “There’s more to it than that, but now’s not the time to get into it.”</p><p>She nodded, and said, “Alright. Let’s go, then.”</p><p>They slipped through the hall as carefully as they could, and ended up at the end of the following corridor. The cat pointed to a door, leaping up to turn it. “In here!”</p><p>It looked to be some sort of small study or library. Akira suddenly felt intensely curious about what kind of books could be found in a place like this, but she wasn’t curious enough to divert from her current goal of finding a place to pass out safely.</p><p>“So where is it?” Ryuji asked tightly.</p><p>“C’mon, use your eyes!” It replied. “Where do you think it is?”</p><p>Akira scanned the room. No doors aside from the one they came through, no windows, no…oh. Right there. “The ventilation shaft?”</p><p>“Ding ding!” It said with a hop, grin on its face. “The lady is correct. Now go, before anyone comes!”</p><p>Nobody had to tell Ryuji twice. As he was climbing up the shelving to reach the shaft, Akira turned to the cat creature. “Thank you for helping us. What’s your name?”</p><p>It looked around carefully. “I’m not sure it’s safe to say names in here. But, I suppose it’s not like the ruler of this place knows me personally. My name is Morgana.”</p><p>She nodded, and whispered, “Akira. And Ryuji.”</p><p>He gave what Akira was sure he thought was a stylish bow.</p><p>“We’ve got a lot of questions,” she told him.</p><p>His eyes looked a little shrewder as he looked her over. “Well, maybe we can work something out about that. But it’ll have to wait. You should get back to your world and get some rest.”</p><p><em>My world? </em>She thought. But she was too tired to pursue the thought, and simply nodded instead. Ryuji chose that moment to fall off the shelving, vent in hand, causing a loud crashing noise to echo through the room and beyond. Both Akira and Morgana jumped.</p><p>“You idiot!” The cat hissed. “Get out of here, now! I need to do the same.”</p><p>Akira helped an embarrassed Ryuji up, and nodded to Morgana as they both climbed their way through the vent and out of the castle.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Starting to get into the meat of things. The next chapters should be fun, because it'll be diving into Akira's school life. I've always thought the protagonist's bullying portrayed in the game was a little...unsubtle? Impersonal? They got the attitudes many people have right, but aside from the whispering in the halls and NPC conversations it feels like it takes a backseat to everything else going on.</p><p>That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I would like to go a little bit deeper than that, to make her interactions at school as interesting as her time in Palaces or with the Phantom Thieves. I'll let you guys be the judge of how well I do after I get the chapters out.</p><p>Cheers!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. White Lies</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akira tries to find an explanation for her half-day absence that doesn't involve magical superpowers and hidden castles.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/11/2016<br/>
Noon</p><p>##</p><p>They found themselves clambering down into the same courtyard they’d entered from. Thankfully, it seemed clear of any guards, and they hurried out past the gate marking the building as <em>Shujin Academy.</em></p><p>“Now where?” Akira asked, feeling her exhausted nerves starting to fray as she realized she had not thought past getting out of the castle. Was it dangerous out here, too? She still didn’t see anybody on the street.</p><p>“Anywhere but here, right?” Ryuji said tensely, glancing over his shoulder at the castle as they hustled away. “Let’s just keep going and figure it out from there.”</p><p>She nodded. They kept going until they turned into a nearby alley, putting the castle out of sight. Ryuji seemed to breathe a little easier, but they did not stop.</p><p>Suddenly, midway down the alley, the both stumbled a little at the same moment as Akira felt that familiar displacement she’d noticed earlier, just before they’d stumbled upon the castle. When the static in her ears stopped, she tensed to the familiar sounds of the city in motion.</p><p>They both ended up looking around a little wildly, but before either of them could say anything, Akira’s phone beeped suddenly at them. “You have returned to the real world.”</p><p>She pulled it out and stared at the strange app on her home screen for a moment - (Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, Pervert Castle) - then glanced back up. Not only were the people back, the day had clearly progressed, as well. The rain was gone, though everything was still wet. Looking back at her phone, she suddenly seized up completely as she saw the time and the growing collection of missed calls, most of them from Sakura.</p><p>Ryuji noticed, after a moment. “Whoa, what’s wrong?”</p><p>Her next thought didn’t stem from any particular facet of her personality; it was unanimous, echoing in her mind like a chorus. <em>I can’t fucking believe it.</em></p><p>“Hey, you okay?” He said it hesitantly, before taking a step closer.</p><p>Akira took a deep breath. “It’s past noon. I’m half a day late on my <em>first day.</em>”</p><p>He looked suddenly relieved, and gave a small laugh. “Man, after all that, that’s what you’re worrying about?”</p><p>The anger flared, but she quashed it. Not because she was afraid of the consequences, but because Ryuji didn’t know about her circumstances. Akira felt a little surprised by how easily she calmed after realizing that fact.</p><p><em>You’re not cowering, or smothering me,</em> the rage pointed out, merely smoldering now. <em>This endless parade of assumptions and misunderstandings is extremely irritating, but we have better things to be angry about.</em></p><p>“You don’t understand,” she said quietly in a tone that brought Ryuji’s smile up short. “I’m on probation. I don’t have…leeway, like a normal student. This could have serious consequences for me.”</p><p>Her voice was dead tired as she finished. She walked over and slumped down against a relatively clean section of wall. Ryuji stood there for a moment, processing this with a serious look on his face, before following her over and sitting down next to her.</p><p>“Well,” he hedged. “I don’t know what your situation is like, but I’m sure we can figure something out.”</p><p>Akira didn’t respond. At that moment a civil war was raging in her head among her impressive collection of unhealthy coping mechanisms. Should she disconnect and stop caring? Freak out and start kicking the shit out of that nearby garbage can? For a few moments she also considered doing both.</p><p>She longed suddenly for the simplicity she’d felt in that strange place, flooded with power as inexplicable as it felt natural, fighting things that made no sense with dreamlike competence. Reaching inward, Akira could feel that she could not access her other self here. And even if she could, then what? Summon Odessa to stab her probation officer?</p><p>It felt sickening to be back in a world where she couldn’t face her problems head on.</p><p>Still…the fight’s not over until you’ve won it, right? She couldn’t help but give a weak chuckle, to Ryuji’s evident surprise. Rubbing her forehead, she said, “Yeah, I think we can figure something out. Give me a moment to think.”</p><p>He did, and she thought. They sat together quietly for about half a minute.</p><p>Then, Akira yawned and stood. Ryuji quickly followed suit, looking at her expectantly.</p><p>“Okay, I think I might have a few ideas,” she began. “One, fuck going to school. I mean, look at me, I’m a mess.”</p><p>Akira gestured to her filthy uniform as she said it, and Ryuji grinned at her. She side-eyed him a little, but it was in good humor.</p><p>“Two, I think my new guardian is…a bit sympathetic, to my situation. At least, that’s the impression I get. Either way, it’s only been a few days, but he hasn’t been terrible to me,” she said, less certainly. “Earlier you said I had a panic attack. If we go to him and say I…got lost, and then was knocked down into a puddle or something, then had a panic attack, I think he would believe that. My record…”</p><p>She was going to continue that thought by saying that her medical and criminal records would make such a story easily believable. But Ryuji didn’t need to know that.</p><p>He looked a little surprised. “You wanna lie? I mean, it’s not like we skipped.”</p><p>“What exactly would I say, if I decided to tell the truth?” She demanded irritably.</p><p>“That we…” He began, before he started thinking about it. “Hmm.”</p><p>“Yeah,” she muttered. “I don’t want to lie. Especially to one of the few people I’ve met in a while that’s been half-decent to me. But I don’t see a choice.”</p><p>Ryuji’s face went sober at that, but he nodded after a moment. “Well, I’ll back you up. The school already sorta hates me, so skipping won’t be that big of a deal.”</p><p>“Doesn’t that make skipping <em>more</em> of a big deal?” She asked, with a brow raised. Then she shook her head before he could reply. “Don’t answer that. Doesn’t matter, because Sakura has probably been in touch with the school. If I say that you helped me get somewhere safe and calm down, he can tell the school that and maybe they’ll lay off you, too.”</p><p>His eyes widened a bit, and he crossed his arms as he pondered it. “That, uh, would be good. I dunno if they’re gonna believe I took care of anyone like that, though.”</p><p>Akira winced as she realized what people were likely to think of her vanishing with Ryuji for hours. “Yeah, I think I might have…similar issues. But I think plausible deniability is the best we’re going to get here.”</p><p>At this, he gave her a wide grin, and said, “Well, sounds good to me then. Better than anything I’d come up with for sure.”</p><p>She inexplicably felt a little cheered by that. Maybe it was the idea that he was in the same boat as her? Or maybe it was relief that he hadn’t immediately demanded to know about her probation. Or both, alongside the early stages of fatigue-induced delirium. Akira decided not to overthink it.</p><p>They made their way back to Leblanc, discussing what they were going to say on the trains. By the time they stood at the end of the backroad leading to it, Akira was swaying on her feet.</p><p>Ryuji glanced at her nervously. “You’re sure you’re up for this?”</p><p>“I don’t have a choice,” she replied wearily. “The longer I put it off, the harder it’s going to be to explain.”</p><p>His reluctant look stuck, but he nodded. They continued down the road until they faced Leblanc’s front door, Akira’s stomach sinking every step of the way. From the window, she could see Sakura sitting behind the counter in the empty store, staring at the TV in the back corner as he rapidly tapped his forefinger on its surface.</p><p>“You live in a coffee shop?” Ryuji asked, confused.</p><p>She gave a vague, weak gesture, as she stepped forward and began to push open the door. “In the attic.”</p><p>Sakura’s head jerked over at the ding, and his eyes widened as he realized it was her. He stood as he took in the state of her. “Where- what happened? Are you alright? I’ve been trying to call for hours!”</p><p>Akira nodded, and said quietly, “I’m sorry, Mr. Sakura. This is all my fault.”</p><p>He took a few steps toward them, and looked Ryuji over as he did. His voice was hard to read as he asked, “Tell me what happened. And who this is.”</p><p>She lowered her head. Just get it over with.</p><p>“I forgot to charge my phone last night, and it died on my way to school. I didn’t have my GPS after that, so I got lost. Then someone knocked me over on accident, and I fell into a dirty puddle. After that, I…had a panic attack.” There was a hitch in her voice she was almost grateful for. “Sakamoto here helped me get somewhere safe and calm down.”</p><p>Sakura sighed, and looked tired suddenly. “A panic attack, huh? I know somebody who has those.”</p><p>“You do?”</p><p>“Yes,” he said shortly. After a moment he continued, “Well, I’ll admit you gave your teacher and I a bit of a scare. I couldn’t decide whether something had happened or if you’d had me totally fooled this morning.”</p><p>“I didn’t- I didn’t want for any of this to happen,” she tried to say, feeling the words weren’t exactly right. She struggled to find a way to clarify, but her mind was sluggish with exhaustion and she gave up. “Today sucks.”</p><p>“I’ll say,” he muttered, before he continued in a warmer tone. “Well, I’ll call the school and tell them what happened. Then we can see if we can get you in to see a doctor.”</p><p>“A doctor?” She couldn’t hide her sudden apprehension.</p><p>“Well, yes,” Sakura said, voice a little surprised at her reaction. “I’m not qualified to deal with stuff like panic attacks. And you’re going to have a hard time getting through the year if you can’t make it to school without having one.”</p><p>Akira tried to suppress a shudder. She’d had some bad experiences with doctors during her time at the detention center. But this was her best option. She’d just have to deal with it. So, she nodded.</p><p>Meanwhile, Ryuji had been standing there looking nervous and out of place the whole time. Sakura looked him over again and said in an amused tone, “Sakamoto, she said? Good on you for stopping to help a woman in need.”</p><p>Ryuji looked momentarily shocked, but then gave one of his grins and nodded. “Of course.”</p><p>Her temper rumbled at the weird mix of feelings that came with watching someone be congratulated for stepping in to protect her delicate womanhood. But now was not the time to be contrary.</p><p><em>And Ryuji did try to help me,</em> her logic pointed out. <em>In a much more impressive way than simply stopping to help calm me down, I might add. It seems like he’s used to people assuming the worst about him. I should just let him have this.</em></p><p>“You going back to school, then?” Sakura was asking Ryuji. “I need to call them anyway, I can let them know what happened and to expect you.”</p><p>Ryuji swept his hand through his hair, laughing as he looked sheepish. “I mean, I don’t <em>want</em> to go back, but I probably should, shouldn’t I?”</p><p>That got a chuckle out of Sakura. Akira informed them she was going to hit the bathhouse quickly while he took care of calling the school. She didn’t mention that it was mostly so she didn’t have to be in the room while he talked to them.</p><p>She made it quick, because she didn’t want to keep Ryuji longer than necessary. Once she was hygienic again, wearing casual clothes that weren’t drenched in black ichor and grimy rainwater, she dragged herself back across the street and into the shop. Sakura was in the middle of offering Ryuji some curry for the road when they both glanced at her entrance.</p><p>“Just got off the phone with the school,” Sakura told her after Ryuji had gotten done thanking him profusely. “They sounded…skeptical. But I think I brought them around. At any rate, you’re not gonna get expelled for this, so long as you can get a doctor’s note for it.”</p><p>Dizzying relief. She tottered over to the nearest open booth and dumped herself into it, face down on the table. “Oh, thank god.”</p><p>Akira wasn’t turning right around and going back to jail. At least, probably not. There was still the chance someone could change their mind; similar things had happened to her before. But it’s not like she could do anything about it at this moment, so why worry about it?</p><p>Easier said than done.</p><p>“He said they cut classes short today anyway,” Ryuji added, peering down at his phone. “There was another big train accident. An ugly one, by the looks of it.”</p><p>Akira sighed before lifting her head up. “Don’t tell me that. I have to use the subway nearly every day for the next year.”</p><p>That got a nervous laugh from him, before he said, “Well, I should head back home. My mom’s been worried sick.”</p><p>“Are you going to be in trouble?” She asked.</p><p>He rubbed the back of his head. “Nah, I gave my mom a call while you were out and told her what was up. I think she’s upset I waited so long before calling, but I’m not in trouble for missing school. At home, at least.”</p><p>She nodded. “Thank you for your help today. I suppose I’ll see you around school, then?”</p><p>At this, he grinned. “Yeah. Feel free to come chat if you see me in the hall! Shujin ain’t always the nicest school out there, so it’ll be good to see a friendly face.”</p><p>The words were benign, but Akira saw his look as he met her eyes. He wanted to talk later about everything that had happened. She nodded.</p><p>After the ding of Ryuji leaving, Sakura glanced at her from his place in the kitchen. “So, did your probation officer set you up with a doctor? I remember I couldn’t find any details in the notes the courts gave me.”</p><p>Akira resisted the urge to snort. “I doubt it. They didn’t mention anything about it, anyway.”</p><p>“Must have been an oversight,” he muttered, as he prepared another dish of curry. “Well, I’ll call around a bit, see if I can get you in quick anywhere.”</p><p>“Okay,” she said uneasily. It occurred to her that this doctor at least wasn’t likely to be closely affiliated with the system. Less chance of…prior influence. She was still going back and forth in her brain on the topic when Sakura set a plate of curry down in front of her.</p><p>“Lunch,” Sakura said simply. “From my understanding, panic attacks can be very draining. And you look exhausted.”</p><p>“I am exhausted,” she agreed. “Thank you for the food. And for calling the school today. I’m not sure what I was going to do if you hadn’t believed me.”</p><p>He turned away, coughing a little. “Well, I think I’m a pretty good judge of character. I suppose I could still be wrong, but right now it seems pointless to do all that paperwork setting this up just to throw you out the first day for something like this. Just don’t make it a habit.”</p><p>Akira nodded to him, smiling tiredly before digging into her curry.</p><p>She was singularly focused on the food for the duration of the meal. She heard Sakura making phone calls in the background, and knew they were probably pertinent to her, but between the fatigue and the delicious curry she was finding her chronic worrying more difficult to maintain than it normally was.</p><p>Eventually, she finished the meal, and came back to herself. Sakura seemed to be on hold. He noticed her questioning look.</p><p>“It’s the hospitals. They’re overwhelmed by the rail accident,” he muttered. “I’m wondering if it’ll even be possible to…”</p><p>As he trailed off, it seemed like he’d had an idea. He hung up and and took the time to look up a number and call that.</p><p>“Hello? Hey, this is Sojiro Sakura, from Leblanc. Do you have time for a walk-in? …A ward I’ve taken in. Not sure she’d appreciate me talking about it on the phone…okay, sure. We’ll be by soon.”</p><p>Then he hung up and sighed. “There’s a clinic in the neighborhood. The doctor’s got some weird rumors going around about her, but she stops by for coffee pretty regularly and seems fine to me.”</p><p>Well, a shady back-alley doctor with a small practice probably wasn’t affiliated with her <em>patron</em>, at any rate. She nodded.</p><p>“If it seems off, we can figure out a different long-term solution,” he hedged. “But I think for now we probably want to get that note as soon as possible.”</p><p>“I think you’re right,” Akira agreed. Better safe than sorry.</p><p>After taking care of the dishes, they took the short walk down to the clinic. It was kind of a hole in the wall.</p><p>When they entered, they could see the small lobby was empty. There was a relatively young blue-haired woman in a doctor’s coat behind the desk, who glanced up at them through half-lidded eyes as they approached.</p><p>“Sakura. It’s good to see you,” she said mildly. “This is her?”</p><p>He nodded. “Dr. Takemi, this is Akira Kurusu.”</p><p>Akira bowed a little. “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”</p><p>“Polite,” she murmured. “Well, meet me in the examination room. Sakura, since you’re so close by, you can feel free to return to your store. I’ll call if I need anything important.”</p><p>She was brought into a small exam room, and subjected to the basic first steps of a checkup - height, weight, allergies, medications, etcetera. After, Akira found herself sitting on a stool in front of Takemi’s desk, as Takemi prepared the paperwork for a new patient on her computer.</p><p>“The network is swamped right now due to the subway accident,” Takemi said. "So while we wait for this to load, what brings you to my office?”</p><p>Akira couldn’t help flushing a bit. In the detention center, anything she’d said to the doctors was likely to be twisted and used against her. She knew things were probably different here, but old habits die hard. “W-well, I had a panic attack on my way to school today, and ended up being late because of it. I get them…now and then. My school asked me to look into treatment and get a note for it.”</p><p>Takemi nodded slightly, writing on her clipboard. “We’ll probably start with a full physical exam, then. Do you know what set it off?”</p><p>“Yes, I think so,” Akira muttered. “I have…special circumstances, at school. I don’t get second chances when it comes to things like truancy. I’m still brand new to the city, today was my first day of school, and I got lost and fell in a puddle.”</p><p>“After which you had a panic attack.”</p><p>She nodded.</p><p>Takemi continued writing a few notes, and then turned to look over her computer. Akira watched her bring up what she assumed was Akira’s medical history, and begin to slowly scroll down, taking it all in. She waited.</p><p>“Quite the record you’ve got here.”</p><p>“Is that your professional opinion?” Akira snapped. There was more bitterness in her voice than she'd intended.</p><p>That only earned a raised brow from Takemi, before the doctor turned back to her monitor. After a moment she replied, “I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me. I’ll have to review your full record for our next appointment. But in the meantime, I think it’s fair to assume you’ve been living under a lot of stress for a while now, right?”</p><p>“Yes,” Akira muttered simply.</p><p>The doctor nodded. “Okay. I’ll get you your note, on the condition that whether you do it here or elsewhere, you do actually seek treatment.”</p><p>Now <em>that</em> thought was a mixed bag. Akira wasn’t stupid. She knew she probably needed some heavy duty therapy after everything that had happened to her. But at the same time, her trust in doctors was pretty much gone after the role they’d played in her incarceration. Either way, she knew she needed that note, so she nodded.</p><p>“Alright, good. Now, we can start with the exam.”</p><p>“Now?” Akira said, suddenly a little panicked. “Can’t we do it next time?”</p><p>For the first time, Takemi seemed a little surprised. “Why?”</p><p>
  <em>Because I don’t want to be touched when I’m this tired and vulnerable.</em>
</p><p>“I’m not comfortable with it. I want some time to…prepare myself mentally.”</p><p>Now <em>that</em> seemed to get Takemi’s attention, and Akira paled a little bit under the doctor’s scrutiny. But eventually, she just said, “Okay, next time then. But make sure next time is soon, yeah? I’ll be checking with Sakura to make sure you keep up your end of this.”</p><p>There was a bit more of the basics that Takemi wanted from her. By the time Akira got back to Leblanc, she was nodding off standing up. She smiled to Sakura as she entered, with a thumbs up and doctor’s note in hand, before going immediately upstairs and collapsing on her bed without even bothering to change into her pajamas. She fell asleep almost instantly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. First Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akira's first school day goes about as well as you might expect, with a few twists.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey all! Bit longer of a delay with this chapter, as some big stuff happened in my family this last week and I've been distracted by that. But I'm still enjoying the heck out of writing it and have no intention of stopping anytime soon.</p><p>This chapter was good practice for me, as I haven't actually done much writing with high school settings. I was a little nervous, but I think it turned out okay.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/11/2016<br/>
Evening</p><p>##</p><p>Akira only slept for a handful of hours, but her anxiety about the following day and the bone-deep exhaustion she still felt prevented her from making any productive use of the rest of her evening. She found herself back in bed by 7, which was fine with her; not much chance of sleeping through her alarms.</p><p>Not long after finding herself back in bed, she found herself staring up into a deep blue velvet curtain, coming to awareness to the ringing smack of metal on metal. Caroline’s voice echoed through her cell. “On your feet, Inmate!”</p><p>She’d had a feeling this was coming. Hauling herself up, Akira walked over to the bars and saw the twins and Igor awaiting her.</p><p>“Our Master wishes to speak with you,” Justine told her calmly. “It’s for your own sake that you take his words to heart.”</p><p>Akira nodded.</p><p>Igor greeted her with, <strong>“First off, let us celebrate our reunion.”</strong></p><p>That voice. Even knowing it was coming, it still put her off balance. Something about it felt like an external pressure - like just hearing it was enough to strain her brain.</p><p>
  <strong>“Oh…? You’ve awakened to your powers. And special ones at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin.”</strong>
</p><p>“By powers, I assume you mean Odessa,” Akira interjected, determined to get <em>something</em> out of this. Igor’s words were likely evidence this place and the castle were linked in some way. “But what do you mean by rehabilitation?”</p><p>
  <strong>“There’s no need to understand it all for the time being.”</strong>
</p><p>“That’s not-” she began, before another smack to the bars from Caroline brought Akira up short.</p><p>“Don’t argue, Inmate!”</p><p><strong>“You will be training with the power of Persona, which you have awakened to,” </strong>Igor continued. <strong>“Personas are, in other words, a “mask” - an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you.”</strong></p><p>Akira shook her head. “That would make you the only one.”</p><p>Igor chuckled at that, cutting off another indignant retort from Caroline. <strong>“There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes.”</strong></p><p>“Learn what?”</p><p><strong>“By the by…”</strong> It continued. <strong>“Have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces.”</strong></p><p>Akira suddenly had the strangest feeling, like Igor was reading off a script. First, it only seemed to reply to things it considered relevant to its message; though how it determined relevancy was a total mystery to her. Second, its words seemed stilted, and not quite right - they didn’t flow naturally, like even an awkward conversation should. “That phone app?”</p><p>
  <strong>“I bestowed it to you as a means to train you as a thief.”</strong>
</p><p>“The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our Master! You better take care in using it, Inmate!” Caroline.</p><p>“Devote yourself to your training so that you may become a fine thief.” Justine.</p><p>“What do you mean, thief?”</p><p>
  <strong>“It must be disheartening to make use of the Metaverse Navigator alone. Should there be others who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well. This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief…”</strong>
</p><p>“But why-”</p><p>That bell suddenly rang again, scouring Akira’s brain of useful questions. As the room began to fade out again, she heard Caroline hmph. “It’s time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have left.”</p><p>And then there she was once more, lying in bed, staring into rafters.</p><p>##</p><p>4/12/2016<br/>
Morning</p><p>##</p><p>Akira had woken before dawn. She initially double and triple checked all her school things again, just in case, but after a while she just sat in bed browsing the web on her phone. She found herself wishing she had a book, or a proper computer, or <em>something</em>. Maybe today she’d check out the library. A prep school had to have a decent library, right?</p><p>Sakura arrived at the store early that morning. Akira couldn’t help but feel reticent; she’d shown a lot more weakness than she was comfortable with the day before, to both him and Ryuji. Especially Ryuji; thinking about how open she’d been made her wince. But it was already done; she’d just have to hope he wasn’t too curious about the details.</p><p>“How are you feeling?” He asked as he started prepping the kitchen.</p><p>“Better,” she told him. It felt a bit more complicated than that, but she wasn’t exhausted at least. And she figured Sakura <em>really </em>didn’t need more reasons to doubt her mental competency. “And my phone’s charged.”</p><p>He chuckled at that. “Good call. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll have some breakfast for you.”</p><p>And so they wrapped up the rest of the morning. He asked her a few questions about her appointment with Takemi, but nothing excessively personal. He told her he’d call Takemi and set up a follow up appointment as she slung her bag over her shoulder, preparing to go. She managed to cobble together a small smile and nodded, thanking him.</p><p>##</p><p>Later that morning, Akira found herself down the road from Shujin in the same spot she’d initially seen the castle. But today it was merely a school.</p><p>She knew she shouldn’t have been disappointed. But part of her kept going back to her awakening and the battles in that dungeon; Akira wasn’t sure if she’d ever felt that alive before, or would again. She sighed, giving up once more on understanding her brain.</p><p>It was still a while before school started, so there weren’t many students around, but as she entered the gate of the school, she was approached by a girl with short brown hair adorned with a headband braid.</p><p>“Akira Kurusu?” The girl asked, tone official.</p><p>Akira nodded.</p><p>The girl shifted a little, seeming a bit uncomfortable despite her authoritative stance and voice. “I’m Makoto Niijima, the Student Council President. Ms. Kawakami asked me to bring you to the faculty office when you arrived.”</p><p>Glancing around at the mostly empty courtyard, Akira felt a little confused. Did Kawakami really ask the Student Council President to stand around waiting for her all morning? It was still early enough that she could have been waiting for a while. But there was no point in voicing such questions. “Okay.”</p><p>Niijima led them to a sizable office in the school. Akira couldn’t help but briefly freeze upon stepping in the room; given school hadn’t started yet it was well-populated by teachers, and a moment after entering all eyes seemed to settle on her. She wasn’t sure if they recognized her or not, but given the…interest in their faces, she imagined so.</p><p>It was a depressing reminder that the staff was aware of her record. Not only that, but what were the chances it hadn’t spread around that she had apparently freaked out and skipped her first day?</p><p>They made their way over to Kawakami’s desk, where she was gathering up her things. She said, “Thank you, Niijima. I won’t keep you anymore.”</p><p>Niijima nodded, before bowing slightly to them both and quickly departing the room. Kawakami sighed as she stood up, saying, “Hello again, Kurusu. Let’s head to my classroom and we’ll talk a bit more in private.”</p><p>That didn’t sound good. Akira suppressed her own sigh as she nodded. She did not like the feeling of eyes following them out of the room.</p><p>Akira walked alongside Kawakami in silence, trying not to let her nerves get the best of her. That plan went straight out the window when Kamoshida turned a corner a down the hall, walking in their direction.</p><p>He noticed them, and put a big smile on his face. “Kawakami! Good morning.”</p><p>To Akira’s horror, Kawakami slowed to greet him with a tired smile in return. “Kamoshida.”</p><p>It was then his gaze shifted to Akira, and for a moment all she could see was the hunger in his golden eyes as he’d threatened her. Her anxiety shot through the roof, and she started to wonder if she was going to have another panic attack right here in the halls.</p><p>Then, in an absurdly abrupt mental shift, she recalled those same golden eyes cowering in terror at her strength, and felt a ridiculous urge to <em>grin viciously</em> at him.</p><p>In what felt like a miracle, Akira managed to avoid both a panic attack and involuntarily antagonizing the potentially abusive gym teacher. But hell if it hadn’t been a brief emotional roller coaster.</p><p>It had all been over in moments. In an amiable tone, Kamoshida said, “Ah, yes. The transfer student. Guess you should have taken that ride, eh?”</p><p>“Ride?” Kawakami asked.</p><p>“I stopped to give a student a ride yesterday, and offered one to Ms. Kurusu here as well, since she didn’t have an umbrella,” he said, smile still plastered on his face, eyes on Akira. “But she said no thanks. Of course, I thought nothing of it at the time, given that we were only a couple of blocks from the school.”</p><p>Kawakami glanced at Akira. Uh oh. Time to think fast.</p><p>Which is hard to do when you’re as highly-strung as you are emotionally exhausted. She nodded, finding it easy to look appropriately embarrassed, and gave it her best shot. “I suppose I should have accepted the ride. Thank you again for the offer. Sakamato did say I was much closer than I’d thought, after I...was able to calm down.”</p><p>Kamoshida merely nodded reasonably at this. Akira could see a clear difference in demeanor between the two 'versions' of Kamoshida she'd met; he either did not remember the events at the castle, or was not going to mention them.</p><p>Not to mention this one's predatory eyes weren't a piercing, glowing gold.</p><p>He replied, “I’m glad everything worked out. But if you want my advice, you should be careful around Sakamoto. It’s a shame, because he used to be such a good athlete, but now he’s got quite the temper, and a habit of dragging others into trouble.”</p><p><em>Fuck this guy,</em> her anger snarled. <em>Ryuji tried to save your life. Don’t just let him say that.</em></p><p><em>This isn’t a battle worth fighting,</em> her logic said firmly. <em>And I don’t know Ryuji well enough to even say he’s wrong.</em></p><p>Her anger was incredulous. <em>Seriously? </em></p><p>
  <em>Ryuji’s clearly got a good heart, but he could be a good-hearted troublemaker with a temper. I should know by now that those things aren’t mutually exclusive.</em>
</p><p>Akira felt her face set into a fake smile. Whether Kamoshida was right about Ryuji or not, she had no intention of snubbing someone who had tried to save her life. “I appreciate the warning. But I’m glad Sakamoto was there yesterday. He risked getting in trouble to help me.”</p><p>“That, or he saw a good chance to skip school and took it,” Kamoshida replied, smile a little flintier. “And a chance to be alone with a vulnerable girl.”</p><p>Akira’s eyes widened, and she was about to snap something ugly in return when Kawakami beat her to it in a voice that was surprisingly sharp. “Kamoshida! That’s not an appropriate thing to say about a student.”</p><p>Kamoshida looked slightly shocked. When Akira glanced to her side, she noticed that so did Kawakami.</p><p>He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with that stupid smile on his face and said, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry about that. Guess I just worry too much.”</p><p>Right.</p><p>Thankfully Kawakami then replied, in a slightly flustered tone of voice, “I understand. Now if you’ll excuse us, I need to get Kurusu settled into my classroom.”</p><p>“Right!” He nodded. His eyes lingered on Akira one last time. “Well, Ms. Kurusu, welcome to Shujin. Hope you enjoy your time here.”</p><p>At that, he turned and walked away. Akira had to suppress a shudder.</p><p>They made the rest of the their way to Kawakami’s class quietly.</p><p>It was a pretty standard classroom, albeit nicer than her old one. She looked around while Kawakami grabbed some documents from her desk.</p><p>“So, here’s your ID,” she started, handing it over. “The Principal wanted me to tell you that though we’re overlooking what happened yesterday, it can’t happen again. And if it does, I can’t protect you.”</p><p>Akira nodded. She’d expected as much.</p><p>Kawakami then sighed and continued, “So if you need help making it to school, you should get in touch with Mr. Sakura or myself, or even the school nurse. Even if you end up just sitting in the nurse’s office, it’ll look better than not coming at all.”</p><p>At that, Akira blinked. “Okay. Thank you. I don’t plan to let it happen again, though.”</p><p>“That’s good,” Kawakami replied, still looking anywhere but Akira’s eyes. “Also. I don’t know how to tell you this, really, so I’ll just say it. Your…situation was leaked yesterday, to the student body.”</p><p>At that Akira swayed, and had to seat herself in the nearest desk. She just closed her eyes and sat there, trying to keep her breathing under control.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Kawakami told her after a few moments, and Akira’s eyes opened at the empathy in her voice. She had not been expecting it, and it helped stabilize her a bit.</p><p>“It’s okay,” her voice hitched. “I knew it was going to eventually. I was just hoping I’d get a chance to make a good impression first.”</p><p>Kawakami frowned at that. “It shouldn’t have leaked at all. I’m still not sure how it could have, so quickly.”</p><p>“The staff are talking about it, right?” Akira smiled bitterly. “All it takes is one student overhearing them. Or one teacher mentioning it to a favorite. It was just a matter of time.”</p><p>“Well,” and then Kawakami hesitated, looking pained. “Actually, the full record was leaked online, on a student forum. Medical and criminal, since they’re so intertwined in your case.”</p><p>At this her smile dropped with a flinch. The full record painted an uglier picture than an incomplete rumor could. And a full leak like that was more viciously personal than some overheard speculation. Who would do something like that?</p><p>Then she answered her own question; the same person responsible for most of the misery in her life. This <em>was</em> some sort of ridiculous trap.</p><p>“If there’s…” Kawakami started, looking unsure. “Anything I can do to help, let me know.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Akira said, confused. “But why?”</p><p>“Well, I am your teacher,” Kawakami said, looking slightly ashamed. “It’s technically my job. And…well. I think I’m…a bit more open-minded than most about this sort of thing. I know that girls in your situation rarely ended up there…happily, and of their own free will.”</p><p>Akira stared at Kawakami, mind roiling. Kawakami sympathized with her because she thought Akira was a victim.</p><p><em>I am a victim,</em> her logic pointed out.</p><p>But it still felt wrong. She was a different kind of victim, but nobody was going to sympathize with her about that, because nobody believed her. This misplaced sympathy based on a malicious lie was probably the best she could expect from anyone from now on.</p><p>Logically, she’d known that, but that wasn’t the same as <em>knowing</em> that. It also sunk in that this was likely how Sakura saw her, too, and the source of his surprising tolerance of her so far. This realization was enough to put another crack in her self control, and she felt her eyes fill with tears.</p><p>Kawakami took a step toward her, eyes wide, but stopped when Akira stood up abruptly and took a few steps away, furiously brushing at her eyes with her sleeve.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” she grated out. “Give me a moment. This is ridiculous.”</p><p>She strangled on a sob, trying to prevent her tears from escalating. This was the absolute worst place and time to be doing this. What if people came in? At this rate Kawakami had probably already decided there was no way Akira was going to make it through the year.</p><p>Akira tried running through the calming techniques she’d read about in the detention center again, and slowly began to come back to herself. After maybe half a minute, she nodded to herself and turned to face Kawakami again, eyes red but dry.</p><p>And then noticed, off by the door behind Kawakami, looking pale as a sheet, the Student Council President, clutching a clipboard to her chest.</p><p>“Oh, god damn it,” Akira muttered to herself. One thing after another.</p><p>Kawakami turned with a start. “Niijima!”</p><p>“I-I’m sorry,” Niijima said, blushing. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I just needed to ask you something, and I didn’t want to interrupt-”</p><p>“It’s fine,” Kawakami sighed. “Come on, let’s go into the hall.”</p><p>She followed Niijima out of the classroom with a brief glance and nod back at Akira, before closing the door behind her. Thus giving Akira a moment alone to collect herself.</p><p>Akira sat back down for now, and considered that maybe she’d misjudged Kawakami a bit. Everything she did and said reeked of her obvious reluctance to get involved, but she was still trying to do right by Akira, even though they’d only met briefly.</p><p>It honestly felt a little surreal - between Kawakami and Sakura, it was beginning to feel like she had <em>two</em> adults tentatively on her side. Akira knew it was too soon to rely on that with either of them, but the part of her that desperately missed home and hearth wanted to cling to them like a life raft in a storm.</p><p>It felt a bit like an echo of her old trust in authority figures. At that thought she snorted and readjusted her expectations to more realistic levels. It was safest to rely on them as little as possible.</p><p>When Kawakami re-entered the room alone, Akira gave her a nod. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for the warning.”</p><p>Kawakami looked doubtful, but didn’t push it. She pointed to a desk near one of the windows on the far side of the room. “Okay. We’ve got an open desk right over there, if you want to get set up and wait for class to begin.”</p><p>Akira nodded and did so. Eventually, students started filtering into the classroom. She initially wanted to look around to get to know the faces of her homeroom classmates, but there was enough scrutiny from many of the students that she felt awkward doing so. She pretended to be busy reading a textbook instead.</p><p>“Oh! It’s you!” Came a familiar voice from in front of her. Looking up, Akira was a bit surprised to see Ann Takamaki from yesterday setting her bag down on the desk in front of her.</p><p>Akira smiled tiredly at her. “Hello again.”</p><p>“Yeah! Funny coincidence, running into you again here,” Ann replied, taking a seat with a stretch. It looked like she was about to continue when suddenly some muffled giggles issued from a few desks down to their right. The two girls looked over to see a small group of their peers whispering among themselves with small smiles on their faces, occasionally sneaking glances.</p><p>“Subtle,” Akira muttered.</p><p>Ann snorted. “Don’t worry about them. This school is full of gossips. It’s maddening.”</p><p>Akira nodded to that, sighing. “Good to know.”</p><p>Shortly after, class began, and Kawakami called her to the front of the room. “Now class, this is Akira Kurusu, a transfer student. She’ll be joining us for the year. Now, Ms. Kurusu, feel free to quickly introduce yourself.”</p><p>“Nice to meet you,” she told them inanely. After a couple beats of awkward silence, Kawakami stepped forward to wrap up the introduction abruptly before sending her back to her desk.</p><p>Akira felt like she had probably bungled that. But really, what could she have said? Practically any discussion about herself led back to her current situation eventually. And most of these people probably already knew who she ‘was’. In the end she felt thankful Kawakami cut it so short.</p><p>Class itself was nothing special; she was technically behind, from the time she missed in holding and then the detention center, but she’d always been a pretty quick study. The real obstacle was the obvious and unwanted attention she spent the whole class getting from other students.</p><p>She hoped they’d get used to her sooner rather than later.</p><p>##</p><p>4/12/2016<br/>
Noon</p><p>##</p><p>When lunch came, Akira found that she wasn’t really hungry. She just bought some snack bread from the school shop and decided to find the library.</p><p>To her dismay, it seemed like people were staring at her pretty much wherever she went. They’d turn away if she returned their look, but the constant feeling of eyes on her did nothing to alleviate her anxiety. She was honestly surprised they even knew what she <em>looked</em> like this soon. Then she realized they’d probably had pictures of her in the leaked records, and felt a little sick.</p><p>The library wasn’t a large one and it seemed focused on academic books, but it was well-kept and definitely worth a look. After maybe fifteen minutes or so she eventually found herself drifting to the Greek myths. She mused that it was only natural she’d want to re-read the Odyssey, after awakening to Odessa.</p><p>When she returned to the desk to check it out, the student librarian jumped when she looked up and saw who was approaching. Akira internally sighed, but set the book down along with her ID and said, “I’d like to check this out, please.”</p><p>The girl glanced down at the book and seemed a little surprised, before she nodded and began processing the rental. They stood there in awkward silence for a half minute or so, before the girl nodded and slid the ID back across the desk to her.</p><p>As Akira grabbed the ID, the librarian suddenly blurted, “Um, are you the transfer?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Uh. I’m sorry to ask this, but…some students have come up and said they felt uncomfortable with you here. So I’m supposed to ask you to, um, stay out of the library.”</p><p>Akira looked at her incredulously. “I’m being banned?”</p><p>“No!” The girl said quickly, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. “You can still, um, rent books and stuff. But maybe you shouldn’t hang around here.”</p><p><em>This school sucks,</em> grated her anger.</p><p>“God forbid I offend the delicate sensibilities of my peers,” Akira muttered, frustrated. “Alright. I won’t come back. I’ll have someone else return the book when I’m done with it.”</p><p>At this, she just grabbed the book and walked off. She made it out into the hall before someone called, “Wait!” from behind her.</p><p>Turning, Akira saw it was Niijima from before, following her out of the library. She remembered Niijima’s face from when Akira had lost control that morning and looked away, flustered and embarrassed. “Yes?”</p><p>“Ignore what she said,” Niijima told her in an irritated tone. “Student librarians don’t have the authority to ban anyone from the library. And no faculty have mentioned anything like that to me. For goodness’ sake, it’s your first day!”</p><p>Akira couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I was thinking it was almost impressive. Managing to get kicked out on my first visit."</p><p>Niijima smiled at that. “I suppose from a certain perspective. But it’s still not right.”</p><p>“Well, thank you,” Akira told her. “Though truthfully, I’m not sure if <em>I’ll</em> be comfortable in there after that.”</p><p>“I’ll talk to the student librarians and sort it out,” Niijima insisted. “You shouldn’t feel unwelcome in the library when you haven’t done anything wrong.”</p><p>Her anger rumbled a bit at the naivety in that statement. There was no end to the number of things in her life that <em>shouldn’t</em> be. But there was also no point in being contrary about it. “I appreciate that.”</p><p>After an awkward moment, Niijima then glanced back at the library and said, “Well, I should go do that. And I’ve got council work to get done before next period. Let me know if they give you any more trouble in there, okay?”</p><p>Akira nodded to her, and watched her go back into the library. True to her word, she went right to the desk and started scolding the student librarian. Akira couldn’t help but give an incredulous grin as she walked away, shaking her head.</p><p>##</p><p>4/12/2016<br/>
Afternoon</p><p>##</p><p>After several more awkward classes, school finally let out, and Akira was mentally exhausted. But despite how much she wanted to leave immediately, she had one more thing to do: find Ryuji.</p><p>Akira wished they’d just traded numbers the day before, but she’d been so tired it hadn’t even occurred to her. She was a little surprised she hadn’t seen him in the halls, given that they were in the same year. At one point she considered asking around to see where he was, but balked at the idea of the rumors <em>that</em> might start.</p><p>After a few minutes of wandering the halls randomly, doing her best to ignore the constant scrutiny, a brown-haired boy about her height in her year sidled up to her side, saying, “Looking for something?”</p><p>She took an involuntary step away from him, but nodded after a moment. “Someone.”</p><p>“Maybe I can help you find them. This school’s pretty big, after all.”</p><p>Akira was normally pretty good at reading people, even if she was terrible at doing anything useful with the information. This guy gave her mixed signals. “Thanks, but I’m as much exploring the school as I am looking for them. I don’t want to rush myself or waste your time.”</p><p>“C’mon, some company couldn’t be that bad,” he said in what he probably thought was a persuasive manner. “And I’ve got nothing to do for a while. I don’t mind.”</p><p>“Maybe another day,” she told him, shaking her head.</p><p>The boy sighed. “Alright. Well, mind if I have your number then? For that day?”</p><p>Right, so that it could end up online and Akira could enjoy getting harassed and propositioned by anonymous classmates for the rest of the year. “Sorry. I don’t like to give out my number to people I don’t know yet.”</p><p>Meanwhile her anger was snarling, <em>Catch the hint, dick.</em></p><p>At this, he looked exasperated and a little nervous. He looked around a bit to make sure nobody was listening, and leaned in, to her great irritation. “Alright! I get it, I get it. I guess I’ll just ask outright, then. Is it true? That you...date, in exchange for money?”</p><p>Her stomach lurched. She’d been expecting something like this once she’d realized her record leaked, but she hadn’t expected anyone to ask her <em>directly </em>in a<em> populated hallway</em> on her <em>first day of school</em>. What was <em>wrong</em> with this place?</p><p>“No, I don’t.” Akira told him in a icy voice that sent tiny shivers down her spine. “And you can feel free to spread that around.”</p><p>It was evidently more intimidating than she’d expected, because he backpedaled quickly. Both literally and figuratively. “Whoa! You, uh, misunderstood me! I was just, you know, making sure the rumors weren’t true! I never believed them, of course.”</p><p>Akira just shook her head at that before she turned and walked off in the direction of the front entrance without saying another word. Ryuji would just have to wait. She’d had enough of this place.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Return</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akira and Ryuji unwind after a long day at school.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey all! Welcome back! I've been writing longer chapters, so hopefully I'll be able to get through events a bit faster without sacrificing the pace and detail I want.</p><p>It's also interesting writing this sort of restricted third person perspective, which is not my usual style. Akira is generally very good at reading people, but she's got some serious blind spots, so I have to try and get across the motivations and thoughts of other characters without blatantly explaining everything in a way that doesn't match Akira's thought patterns. It's good writing exercise, even if sometimes it makes me wonder if things are coming across the way I'd like to the reader.</p><p>It helps to remember that the actual words being spoken in a conversation are only one facet of the actual communication happening! In Akira's case, not even the most important one, either, since she generally does not like to use her words. I'm enjoying this character a lot.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/12/16<br/>
After School</p><p>##</p><p>Of course, it was her luck that Ryuji had been waiting for her outside the whole time. She only hesitated for a moment at the students around, before <em>fuck it</em> echoed around her skull in the voice of her anger and she walked directly on over to him. He gave her a grin and a wave as she approached.</p><p>“Yo! Kurusu!” Ryuji greeted her on approach. “Sorry, I would have found you at lunch, but I got suspended.”</p><p>There was a beat. Then Akira exclaimed, “What? <em>Why?”</em></p><p>He seemed surprised at the heat in her voice. “Oh, well, when I went in today, I told them the story, but they pretty much just accused me of usin’ you as an excuse to get outta school. Then Kamoshida said a ‘simple in-school suspension’ was enough, and he made me clean gym equipment all day.”</p><p>“Sakamoto, this school sucks,” Akira told him bluntly, shaking her head.</p><p>“Yeah, no doubt.” He agreed easily. His voice got a more serious as he continued, “Speaking of, heard you got a taste of it today. Someone leaked your record?”</p><p>It made her a little sick to think of Ryuji reading that abomination. She just nodded.</p><p>“Man, that’s such bullshit,” he said darkly, before gesturing for them to start walking away from the school, where a growing number of people were noticing them interact. “I bet it was Kamoshida.”</p><p>Akira was confused. “Kamoshida? Why?”</p><p>“Because that’s just the kind of guy he is. He’ll tear things down just because he doesn’t like ‘em. And since the volleyball team is competing at the national level, keeping the school popular, nobody’ll stop him.” Ryuji said. His voice got lower before he continued with, “I mean, didn’t you hear him in that castle? Said you ‘lessen his achievements with your presence’, or whatever. He felt the same about the track team, and now the track team’s gone.”</p><p>She remembered Kamoshida calling Ryuji the ‘fallen track star,’ and knew there was more to that story. But she didn’t push.</p><p>Instead she sighed, feeling sicker the more she thought about it. “If that’s true, it could be a problem for me. If a teacher with pull decides I need to go…”</p><p>Ryuji grimaced. “Well. Maybe he won’t go that far. Or maybe…”</p><p>Akira looked at him as he trailed off. Then he nodded his head a bit in the direction of the alleyway they were approaching, the same one where they had seemed to come back to…reality, or whatever had happened. She followed him down it when he turned.</p><p>Once they were a ways down the alley, he leaned up against a wall. Akira peered back where they came, but it didn’t seem like anyone was following.</p><p>“So, that castle,” he began haltingly, as though he wasn’t sure where to start. She fully understood that; there was a lot to unpack.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“What <em>was</em> all that?” He blurted suddenly, flailing an arm suddenly in emphasis. “It felt completely real, but it had to have been some kind of, like, shared hallucination or dream, right?”</p><p>“I suppose it could have been,” Akira mused, her thoughts turning to the Velvet Room. “Morgana seemed to know what was up.”</p><p>“Morgana?”</p><p>“The cat thing,” she explained.</p><p>“Oh,” Ryuji nodded. “And Kamoshida! Today he was being even more of a dick than usual, but it seemed like he didn’t have any idea about a castle, or what went down in that dungeon.”</p><p>“Yeah, I ran into him too, and that’s the impression I got,” Akira said, frowning. “But…it seems unlikely that they’re not connected, somehow.”</p><p>“That’s what I was thinking!” Ryuji exclaimed, standing up off the wall and turning to face her directly. “And today I saw some of those guys we saw in the dungeon. They’re members of his volleyball team. They’ve always got injuries. And if their practices are anything like track’s were, it ain’t all from training. It’s gotta be related.”</p><p>Akira crossed her arms. “Morgana sounded like he might be willing to share information with us. I wonder if we’d be able to go back to the castle and ask?”</p><p>Ryuji’s eyes shot wide. “That easy? I thought I’d have to convince you.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Well, because…” Ryuji trailed off, looking embarrassed. “It’s dangerous.”</p><p>She raised a brow at him, mild irritation seeping into her voice. “Says the guy without magical girl powers. Were you planning to go alone, if I said no?”</p><p>“Uh,” Ryuji hesitated, glancing aside. “Well, it’s not like I know how to.”</p><p>Akira shook her head. “Kamoshida might be an existential threat to my probation. If I can learn anything there that might help me protect myself, it’s worth the danger.”</p><p>Ryuji nodded reluctantly.</p><p>“And either way, you’re going to need muscle for whatever you’re planning to do, right?”</p><p>Ryuji flushed a little, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, I suppose.”</p><p>“Well. Over there, I’ve got muscle to spare,” she said with a small, shark smile. “So let’s figure this out.”</p><p>That brought a matching grin to his face. “Hell yeah. I gotta say, you’re pretty hardcore for a chick.”</p><p>That made her snort. She thought back to her trip to Tokyo, where she’d spent the entire time jumping at shadows and freaking out over every minor human interaction.</p><p>Or back to her time in jail, where she’d spent most of her time trying and failing to blend into the stark white tiled walls. Unless, she mused, being crazy counts as being hardcore.</p><p>Or even farther back. Akira found herself enjoying the image of some of the people she used to know witnessing this vulgar ‘troublemaker’ calling that quiet Kurusu girl a ‘hardcore chick.’ Of course, like all thoughts of her old life, that one carried a bitter, painful aftertaste.</p><p>So she let her grin fade as she pulled out her phone. “I have an idea. Do you remember when we first appeared back here? My phone, saying, ‘You have returned to the real world?’”</p><p>“Oh, yeah!” Ryuji’s eyes went wide. “I was so freaked out at the time, I totally forgot about that.”</p><p>“Same here,” Akira admitted. “But look at this.”</p><p>Ryuji got closer as she clicked on that purple app that she couldn’t get rid of. Just as she thought, <em>Metaverse Navigator</em> appeared on the title bar above a simple interface.</p><p><em>Thanks, Igor,</em> she thought. <em>I think.</em></p><p>Looking through her options, she tapped on the <em>History</em> tab and turned the phone to him. He leaned in.</p><p>“Kamoshida, Shujin Academy…<em>Pervert Castle?</em>” His voice was confused. “That sounds about right, but what is this? Some kind of app?”</p><p>“Not sure. It appeared on my phone a few days ago and I haven’t been able to delete it.”</p><p>His eyes widened a little. “That’s actually, uh, pretty creepy.”</p><p>“You’re telling me,” she agreed. “At first I thought it was a virus. But it says it’s a navigation app, and look - right here, by Kamoshida’s spot in the history.”</p><p>“Navigate,” Ryuji read, mouth forming a grin. “That’s gotta be it, right?”</p><p>“Let’s find out,” Akira said, tapping the button.</p><p>Ryuji yelped as that displacement hit them. This time it didn’t hurt quite so much.</p><p>##</p><p>Akira put the phone back in the pocket of…her tunic. She found herself smiling again as she realized she was back in her ridiculous Greek getup. Guess it was here to stay this time.</p><p><em>Awakening provides a rush of strength, but it’s not stable,</em> Odessa explained in that cool tone. <em>This time, you’re going in willingly with established powers and expectations.</em></p><p><em>I’m going to pretend that makes sense to me,</em> Akira replied.</p><p>Ryuji was looking around nervously. “Man, warn me next time you’re going to do that. That scared the shit outta me.”</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>They went back toward the school, and sure enough, as they left the alley they found themselves right down the road from that awful castle bathed in that sickly purple light emanating from the sky.</p><p>“I can’t believe that worked,” Ryuji croaked, running a hand through his spiky hair. “How does a phone app…bring you somewhere like this?”</p><p>“Magic, I guess,” Akira replied noncommittally. “Let’s find Morgana.”</p><p>“Doesn’t this freak you out?” Ryuji grumbled as they started walking toward the school. “Even a little? We’re about to go search an evil magic castle full of freaky monsters and run by our gym teacher to look for a talking cat mascot.”</p><p>That question again. She reflected that both her awakening to Odessa and the surreality of the Velvet Room had certainly taken much of the sting out of the strangeness of this castle. And now that she was back here again, she could not deny that there was a similar <em>feeling</em> to this place as there was to the Velvet Room - not exactly, but close enough that it was obvious now that she was aware enough to look for it.</p><p>“I am freaked out. If we can’t find anything useful here, I might end up expelled.”</p><p>And back in jail, she didn’t add.</p><p>“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Ryuji said exasperatedly. “Even skipping all the weirdness, what about the monsters? We nearly died last time.”</p><p>Akira shook her head, frowning. “The real world is just as dangerous as this one is. At least here I'm able to defend myself.”</p><p>She cursed herself mentally a moment later, as Ryuji went quiet. For some reason, around him she found it difficult to be as reticent with her thoughts as she normally was. But talk about a loaded statement! She needed to find her caution again.</p><p>They made the rest of their way through the gate in silence, before staring up past the courtyard at the ridiculous castle.</p><p>“Where do you think the cat might be?” Ryuji asked, looking a little daunted by the sheer size of the thing.</p><p>“I’m not sure,” Akira mused. Her eyes sought out the vent they had escaped from. “Hopefully not the dungeon again.”</p><p>Ryuji shuddered.</p><p>“Who do you take me for?”</p><p>They both jumped as they spun at the familiar voice. Morgana stood directly behind them, looking smug at their surprise. “And I told you, I’m not a cat.”</p><p>“Dude! Don’t just sneak up on us in a place like this!” Ryuji exclaimed.</p><p>“Keep your voice down!” Morgana hissed. “The shadows don’t come out here often, but they’ll investigate a disturbance if they hear one.”</p><p>Once she’d gotten over the surprise, Akira felt relief. This part at least ended up being a lot easier than she’d expected. “Did you know we were coming, Morgana?”</p><p>“Sort of. I happened to be out here taking a break when I sensed you guys coming,” Morgana admitted. He gestured for them to follow him over behind some foliage in the courtyard. “Speaking of which, why are you here? I thought you’d have the sense to wait until I came to you. You guys are lucky I caught you before you went back into the castle.”</p><p>“We are,” Akira cut off the start to Ryuji’s indignant retort. “And thank you for that. But the Kamoshida in our world is a problem, for us and others. Are we right in thinking this place is related to him?”</p><p>Morgana looked a little taken aback by the directness of her question. “Well, yeah. This place is a manifestation of Kamoshida’s distorted desires. I call them Palaces.”</p><p>Akira's breath caught as Igor's words rang out in her memory, almost a physical sound:</p><p>
  <strong>Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces.</strong>
</p><p>“What?” Ryuji asked, confused.</p><p>The not-cat sighed. “To dumb it down, you’re in a world formed by Kamoshida’s mind. More specifically, how twisted it is. It’s not quite accurate to say you’re in his brain, but it’s close enough.”</p><p>Akira’s mind raced. That…explained <em>so much.</em> And it fit well with her mediocre understanding of the Velvet Room as a place ‘<strong>between dream and reality, mind and matter.</strong>’</p><p>“So he sees himself as the King of Shujin. That’s why this place is a ridiculous castle and he walks around wearing a crown,” she thought out loud, hand on her chin. “The volleyball players are in the dungeon cells because he views them as his captives, subject to his whims.”</p><p>Her gut suddenly churned as she grasped the implications of Kamoshida’s sickening gaze and  words to her in the dungeon. She suddenly realized there was a good chance she had more to worry about than just expulsion and imprisonment.</p><p><em>That line of thinking will only weaken you,</em> Odessa warned her. <em>Think on it when you return home, to keep yourself safe. Here, focus on what you can do.</em></p><p>She shook her head, and continued. “But what about the guards? I get the knights in armor bit, but why do they turn into monsters?”</p><p>“Damn, you’re quick!” Morgana remarked, having missed her momentary lapse in poise. “The guards are shadows, which are humanity’s stray thoughts and whims. They’re attracted to places like these, and once they’re ensnared, they usually end up subjugated by the Palace ruler’s distortion. So it’s more accurate to say that they’re returning to their true forms, rather than transforming into monsters.”</p><p>“But not all of them transformed,” she pointed out. “And if they’re returning to their true form, why do they still attack? Are shadows naturally hostile?”</p><p>Morgana shook his head. “The ones that didn’t transform were simply too weak to disrupt the ruler’s hold on them. And no, normally it depends on the shadow. But just because they return to their true form doesn’t mean the ruler’s hold on them is completely broken. Generally, they’ll still follow the ruler’s will unless you convince or force them not to.”</p><p>“Convince or force, huh,” she mused quietly.</p><p>“I am so lost,” Ryuji muttered. “I mean, I kinda get the ‘we’re in his brain’ thing, but how is any of this possible in the first place? Does everyone with a brain have a place like this?”</p><p>“It’s a complicated subject,” Morgana said primly. “To put it simply, this place exists within the cognitive world. That is, within a world formed by human minds. And no, only people with twisted desires end up with places like this. That’s why I call them ‘distortions.’”</p><p>The intellectual part of Akira’s brain was reeling right now. The idea that places like this existed completely shook the foundations of her reality. It also legitimized her certainty that the Velvet Room was both real and important. But the part of her that was right here, wrapped in Odessa’s strength, put all that aside for now to focus on their immediate situation.</p><p>“Okay,” she began, crossing her arms. “So we’re basically in Kamoshida’s brain. Does that mean that doing stuff in here will affect his mind?”</p><p>“Another point for Ms. Frizzy Hair!” Morgana exclaimed, before his eyes widened and he lowered his voice. “That’s what I’m doing here. I’m working on…a theory I have, that might allow me to resolve the distortion.”</p><p>“<em>Resolve</em> the distortion…” Akira said slowly, and a bit uneasily. “You mean changing his mind. In the most literal sense.”</p><p>Morgana nodded, looking grim but sure. “It’s an extreme solution, but places like this don’t form unless things have gotten really bad. Didn’t you guys just say he was a problem for everybody?”</p><p>After glancing between them, Ryuji's gaze rested on Akira. “What do you guys mean, change his mind? Like, brainwash him into not being an asshole?”</p><p>She nodded. “Basically, if I’m understanding right.”</p><p>“Hmm…” Ryuji looked conflicted. “I mean, on one hand, that’s kinda screwed up. On the other hand, Kamoshida’s a huge asshole and I hate him.”</p><p>“There’s actually another complication, too,” Morgana added reluctantly. “It’s something that has to be done carefully. I’m pretty sure if I mess it up, it might remove <em>all</em> his desires, not just the twisted ones. That includes stuff like eating, sleeping, and breathing.”</p><p>“That’s…” Akira began, not entirely sure what to say. “Basically murder.”</p><p>Morgana’s ears drooped. “It’s a worst-case scenario. And is it really better to do nothing than to do something that might hurt the bad guy? These distortions are dangerous! Both here and in the real world.”</p><p>Akira had never liked moral dilemmas, because they were never as simple as they first appeared. Was she willing to kill someone, or at least risk killing someone, to protect herself from imprisonment or worse? Or to protect others from the same?</p><p>…Now <em>that</em> opened up a mental can of worms. She was not at all sure she liked the pattern of her thoughts on that subject, and reared back from them like they burnt.</p><p>Either way, she wasn’t going to kill someone over an educated guess. Ryuji’s uneasy expression gave her the idea he was on a similar page. She turned to him and asked, “Sakamato, do you have any evidence of his abuses?”</p><p>He frowned. “Like, pictures or videos or something? No, nothin’ physical. I could tell you stories about track practice after he took over, but nobody believed me back then and they ain’t gonna start now.”</p><p>Akira flinched at that thought. It was too close for comfort. “I know what that’s like.”</p><p>Ryuji got quiet again. She shook off the feeling, and said, “We need more information, I think. We need to know the extent of his abuses, and how far he’ll go. After that, we can decide.”</p><p>“Decide what? This is my plan!” Morgana exclaimed.</p><p>“And we’ll help,” Akira snapped in reply. “Provided you share your info with us, since you seem to know what you’re doing. And if it comes to it, we’ll help you <em>resolve</em> Kamoshida’s distortion.”</p><p>Morgana and Ryuji stared at her, shocked.</p><p>She then crossed her arms and fixed Morgana with a firm look. “<em>If</em> it comes to it. If it comes to it instead that I decide you’re lying, or that you’re going around turning peoples’ brains to mush, I’ll stop you myself. Got it?”</p><p>“Y-yes, Ma’am!” Morgana stuttered out, looking a little panicked. “I promise, I’m trying to help! I don’t want to kill people any more than you do.”</p><p><em>That’s not as high a bar to clear as he thinks it is,</em> Odessa pointed out, amused.</p><p>Akira sighed, and relented. “For the record, Morgana, I don’t think you’re trying to trick us. You didn’t have to tell us about the whole brain-death thing, after all. I just wanted to be sure we were on the same page.”</p><p>He nodded, quickly readopting his confident rogue demeanor. There was a slightly fawning look in his eyes that she found somewhat disconcerting. “You’ve got a strong dedication to justice! The will to act! And a thorough attention to detail! Of course I can respect that! You’ve got all the makings of a real Phantom Thief.”</p><p>“‘Phantom Thief?’” Ryuji interjected questioningly.</p><p>“A stylish thief that steals the distorted desires of villains!” Morgana declared.</p><p>
  <strong>This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief.</strong>
</p><p>Igor’s words echoed in her head, and she could barely suppress her shudder.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Captain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Three friends explore a castle.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/12/2016<br/>
Afternoon</p><p>##</p><p>“That sounds kinda awesome, actually. Like a comic book,” Ryuji mused. Morgana beamed at him.</p><p>Akira fiddled with her gloves. “Shall we check out the castle then?”</p><p>“Not quite so fast,” Morgana shook his head. He looked up at Akira. “We should talk strategy, first. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”</p><p>“We won, didn’t we?” She muttered, embarrassed.</p><p>Morgana scoffed, and pointed up at her. “What I said before still applies! We’ll be fighting as a team. You also should be more cautious about your power usage. If you fight like you were last time, you’ll run out of stamina before we get anywhere useful. Not to mention alert everyone in a five mile radius.”</p><p>Akira felt unreasonably disappointed. “How should I fight, then?”</p><p>“From what I can tell, your Persona is very physically oriented,” Morgana reasoned. “Aside from hitting things with her sword, she can also buff you up, right?”</p><p>
  <strong>You will be training with the power of Persona.</strong>
</p><p>“So far,” Akira confirmed, ignoring yet another premonitory chill. “I haven’t gotten the chance to experiment much.”</p><p>“Persona?” Ryuji interjected. “Do you mean those things that pop out of you guys?”</p><p>The not-cat nodded to him, before turning back to Akira. “Your best role is probably as front-line combatant. Your main job would be to draw attention to yourself and keep the enemy tangled up so we can exploit their weaknesses.”</p><p>“Isn’t that what I was doing before?”</p><p>“You were too aggressive,” Morgana said, shaking his head. “You’re pretty strong, but you can’t brute force your way through every shadow we’ll encounter. Remember, it wasn’t all the energy you expended trying to break through that knight shadow’s guard that won us that fight, it was a sneak attack followed by a coup de grace.”</p><p>Akira sighed. She knew he was right. “Okay, I’ll be more cautious. What’s your role?”</p><p>“I can fight and use wind and healing magic,” he said proudly. “So depending on our enemies I can either support you from a distance or help fight up close. We should take it case-by-case.”</p><p>“What is magic, exactly? Another weird mind thing?” Ryuji asked, with a look on his face like he still couldn’t quite believe he was having this conversation.</p><p>Morgana crossed his paws. “It’s an expression of will in the cognitive world. I don’t know exactly why it manifests like it does. Maybe because of the common conception of magic as elemental?”</p><p>“Huh,” Akira mused. She then stretched, and glanced at Ryuji. “So, we all set?”</p><p>Ryuji kicked at the ground and nodded, looked sort of embarrassed. “I mean, yeah. Sorry I’m kinda useless.”</p><p>She frowned. “Sakamato, we’re not here to beat up monsters. We’re here to get dirt on our abusive gym teacher. You’re the one that knows him, his victims, and this school the best of us, by far. We’ll be counting on you to help us interpret all the messed up stuff we’re probably going to see in there.”</p><p>He blinked, as though he hadn’t considered that. After a moment his grin was back. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Well then, I’ve got your back.”</p><p>Akira had just been pointing out the obvious, but found herself briefly returning his grin when she realized it had made him feel a bit better. After a moment, something occurred to her, and she turned to Morgana. “Could he have a Persona?”</p><p>Morgana glanced at Ryuji skeptically. “Every human has a Shadow, which is their unconscious self. A Persona is just a Shadow that the human has come to terms with. So, theoretically, yes.”</p><p>Ryuji’s eyes widened a bit at that. He turned to Akira and asked, “What was it like?”</p><p>“Uh,” Akira began, unsure how to explain it without sounding melodramatic. “I got really mad at everything. Then all that crazy stuff with the mask and flames happened. Now she’s just there, in the back of my mind. Using her feels instinctual. So I guess, if you get the chance, just get really mad and maybe you’ll get lucky.”</p><p>He snorted at that. “Well, losin’ my temper is one of the things I’m best at. So I guess it’s just a matter of time.”</p><p>“That’s the spirit,” she told him, amused. Then she turned to Morgana and nodded. “Do you have any suggestions on where to start, Morgana? You said you’ve been exploring this place, right?”</p><p>The not-cat thought about it. “If you want information about his abuse, we should probably go check out the training hall. He brings prisoners there almost every day.”</p><p>##</p><p>“You sure you’ve got this? I can demonstrate, if you want.”</p><p>“I’ll be fine,” she muttered, taking one last glance at the shadow around the corner and down the hall before making her move.</p><p>The rug laid along the ornate floors muffled her footsteps, and the shadow was caught off guard as she landed on its back, sword sunk into the gap in the armor between neck and shoulder. Reaching across his face, she gripped the helmet firmly and tore it off, causing the armor to collapse into a amorphous pile of goop.</p><p>She leapt back as the creature formed. Creatures, she had to correct after a moment; it looked like several shadows had fallen out of the suit. One was a purple horse with wickedly curved horns, and the other two were an oddly shaped creature in a floating jar.</p><p>They looked dazed, and she heard Morgana say from behind her, “The jar ones are weak to wind! Hit the horse!”</p><p>As she moved, Akira felt the wind whip past her to cleave apart one of the jar monsters. Grinning, she swung her sword across the neck of the stumbling horse, causing it to rear up, black ichor spraying from the wound. As it roared, she rolled forward under a lashing hoof to slash at one of the rear hooves still grounded.</p><p>This served the dual purpose of causing the horse to stagger, trying desperately to keep itself standing, and putting the horse between her and the final jar creature, which was presently coming to its senses.</p><p>She wanted to rush forward and crush them both. She knew she could do it. She also knew it wasn’t the smart move, so she played it defensive, giving Morgana a chance to line up another shot. Not that the horse was putting up much of an offense at the moment.</p><p>The moment the wind struck the other shadow, Akira lunged. The horse tried to intercept her with its horns, but in its weakened state it wasn’t fast enough to prevent her from closing the distance and impaling it. It shuddered, then collapsed in a pool of black and red. Akira stood back, glancing up to see Morgana finishing the jar monster with a sword that was really far too large for him.</p><p>She looked first at Morgana, who nodded approvingly at her. Then at Ryuji, who was giving her a goofy thumbs up from back around the corner. She couldn’t help rolling her eyes.</p><p>“That was well done,” Morgana said quietly as they regrouped. “You see what I mean? Minimum danger, minimum effort, maximum effect. It’s all about finesse!”</p><p>Akira did have to admit that this sort of victory was still pretty cathartic.</p><p>##</p><p>Kamoshida had apparently increased security as a result of their escape. The way back to the dungeons (because of course it was there) was much better defended than it had been last time. Fortunately, between the element of surprise and fighting as a pair, Akira and Morgana were able to even the odds without too much incident.</p><p>Eventually, they reached the stairs and found themselves walking on cobblestone again. It was around this time Ryuji remembered that he’d brought something.</p><p>“Seems kinda dumb, now that I’m actually here,” he admitted, as he held out a fairly convincing model gun. “I was thinking I might be able to fake the guards out or something.”</p><p>“Were you carrying that in your bag all day?” Akira asked, voice slightly aghast.</p><p>Before he could answer, Morgana hopped in place. “You know, that might actually work!”</p><p>They both turned to him. Ryuji replied, “What do you mean?”</p><p>“That gun. This place works off cognition, right? If the Palace ruler and shadows think it’s a real gun, it should function as one.”</p><p>“That easy?” Akira said, surprised. That raised a lot of possibilities. “So if I brought a fake grenade, would it function like a real one here?”</p><p>“Uh,” Morgana replied, looking a bit taken aback. “Yeah, I think so. But wouldn’t that make it kind of hard to sneak?”</p><p>“Wouldn’t a gun?”</p><p>He shook his head. “You’d expect thieves to used silenced guns, right? Whereas grenades are always loud. Sound doesn’t travel here like it does in your world.”</p><p>“That seems like a stretch,” she mused. “Also, what if I said, ‘throwing tear gas!’ or something while I threw it? Would that turn it into a tear gas grenade?”</p><p>Morgana rubbed his head. “Look, can we talk shop later? The important thing is that we have a gun now! Probably.”</p><p>Akira crossed her arms thoughtfully, looking to Ryuji. “Do you know how to use a gun?”</p><p>“Well, it’s not like I’ve ever actually used one,” he hedged. “But I’ve played a lot of videogames?”</p><p>“We should be careful, then. If it’s like a real gun, it’d be pretty easy to accidentally shoot yourself or one of us if you handle it wrong.”</p><p>“Do <em>you</em> know how to use a gun?” He asked, tentatively. Ryuji didn’t sound very skeptical, and Akira couldn’t help feeling mildly offended.</p><p>“No,” she huffed. “I’ve just read about them.”</p><p>“Maybe it’s best if you use the gun,” Morgana told her, with a nervous glance at Ryuji.</p><p>##</p><p>It worked.</p><p>They had ambushed a weaker, isolated shadow in order to test it out. Akira had torn the helmet from its head, then jumped back, gun at the ready. When it reformed into a strange plant creature, she took aim and pulled the trigger.</p><p>Despite expecting it, the sharp <em>crack</em> of the gun and the kick of its recoil still made her flinch. But the shot still hit; it tore a chunk out of the torso of the plant creature, spraying that strange black ichor in the process.</p><p>It wailed at her, and for a moment she hesitated. Then she centered her aim again and methodically fired four more shots into it. She stopped when it collapsed to the ground, and a moment later it dissipated.</p><p>“Huh,” she muttered, looking at the gun.</p><p>“I can’t believe that worked,” Ryuji said as he came closer, eyes a little wide.</p><p>“Me neither, really.”</p><p>“I told you guys it would!” Morgana protested. “Who’s the expert here?”</p><p>Akira gave him a small smile. “You kept saying things like ‘probably,’ and ‘I think.’ I like to keep my mind open.”</p><p>“You-” His retort cut short as he glanced up suddenly, looking around. “I sense shadows approaching. They must have heard the shadow scream.”</p><p>“Or the <em>gunshots.</em>”</p><p>“Now’s not the time! Let’s go!”</p><p>##</p><p>They were able to lose their pursuers without much difficulty, and resumed their journey to Kamoshida’s alleged training hall. The entrance to which was not what she was expecting.</p><p>“Kamoshida’s Training Hall…of Love?” Akira read uneasily, off the decorations surrounding a large iron door. “I don’t like the sound of that.”</p><p>“Me neither. But we gotta go in, right?” Ryuji said reluctantly.</p><p>She nodded, and pushed open the iron door. All three of them jumped as they were greeted with a sudden cacophony of anguished calls for mercy.</p><p>
  <em>“Please, no more…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Enough!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Someone, help!”</em>
</p><p>And on and on. Akira and Ryuji shared sickened glances. Morgana was grim as he walked forward and said, “C’mon, you two. There’s no turning back now.”</p><p>He was right, and that centered her a little. Looking back at Ryuji, she could see he was badly affected by whatever was going on in that hall. She waved a little to get his attention again, and said, “This sort of thing is why we’re doing this, right?”</p><p>His expression got firmer, and he nodded at her. “Yeah. Let’s go.”</p><p>It was some kind of house of horrors. In barred off volleyball courts, members of Kamoshida’s team were subjected to a variety of nasty, elaborate tortures that only vaguely had anything to do with training or practice.</p><p>At one point, she looked away from one of the courts to see Ryuji cursing his phone quietly. It looked like he was trying to take pictures. She said, “No luck?”</p><p>Glancing up at her, he shook his head grimly. “Most of my phone stuff doesn’t work here. Though, I do have that purple app now.”</p><p>That jolted her. “Really?”</p><p>He nodded, turning the phone to show her. There it was.</p><p>
  <strong>It must be disheartening to make use of the Metaverse Navigator alone.</strong>
</p><p>If Igor was to be believed, Ryuji now had the Navigator on his phone because she dragged him along by accident, more or less. She thought of the beating he had taken, and winced at her part in all this.</p><p>At the same time, new questions were forming. Why <em>her?</em></p><p>The way Igor spoke, it made Ryuji’s involvement seem almost incidental, whereas Igor had <em>expectations</em> for her. But all she had to go on were vague warnings about ruin and the importance of rehabilitation. And rehabilitation in this case involved gaining psychic dreamworld powers and becoming a metaphysical thief?</p><p><em>Focus,</em> Odessa admonished her. <em>These questions are important, but this isn’t the place to be asking them.</em></p><p>She shook them off, and glanced over at their feline guide, who was still looking around with that grim expression on his face. “Morgana, am I right in believing this means that the abuse in the real world is serious?”</p><p>He nodded. “Almost certainly. This is awful.”</p><p>Akira then glanced at Ryuji, whose fists were clenched as he stared down through the bars. “And this lines up with what you know, Sakamato?”</p><p>The blond boy just nodded.</p><p>“Then we know that it’s serious and it’s spread across the entire team. Why don’t we try looking into the team in the real world, see if any of them are willing to blow the whistle?”</p><p>Ryuji’s look darkened. “We have to try. But chances are they’ll keep quiet to protect the team.”</p><p>“<em>Protect</em> the team?” She said, confused for a moment. “Oh. Because Nationals?”</p><p>“Yeah. And being able to say an Olympic medalist trained them. To them, their futures are on the line. That’s what it was like in track, anyway.”</p><p>Akira went quiet at that. It threw a wrench in her ‘expose him in real life’ plan. But Ryuji was right. They had to try.</p><p>“You’d be better off just going with my plan,” Morgana pointed out. “If you get him arrested, his distortion won’t go away. It’ll just reform somewhere else.”</p><p>“How do you know that? Wouldn’t getting arrested disrupt his perception of himself as King of Shujin?” she said, a bit of an edge entering her voice. “We’ve got to at least try this way before jumping straight to brainwashing.”</p><p>“Can you afford to wait that long?” Morgana said defensively. “You think if you get evidence, you’re going to get him arrested immediately? Sounds to me like the school’s got reason to protect him. Even his <em>victims</em> have reasons to protect him.”</p><p>Even his <em>victims</em> have reasons to protect him. That thought kicked off a cascade of repressed memories she would have been happier to leave buried; the woman that had ran off that night, looking miserable in the witness stand, refusing to meet her eyes as she fed them all a ridiculous story about Akira’s harassment and unstable behavior.</p><p>It seemed like just a few moments before she realized that Ryuji had walked over, looking concerned, and Morgana was still trying to talk to her. “Hey! You still in there?”</p><p>“Huh?” She said stupidly, before she fully came back to herself. “Oh, sorry. Just zoned out there for a moment.”</p><p>Morgana and Ryuji shared a quick glance, which incensed her for reasons she didn’t fully understand. “What?”</p><p>“Nothing. But I think we’ve accomplished our objective for today,” Morgana said matter-of-factly. “I think we should-”</p><p>“Well, well. Look what we have here.”</p><p>They all jumped at Kamoshida’s sudden presence in the entrance, flanked by guards.</p><p>Morgana looked chagrined, hissing, “Damn it, I was distracted!”</p><p>Kamoshida’s arms were crossed, and his expression pleased. “To think, I was so angry about being forced to skip training just to hunt down some intruders. I never would have dreamed they’d be waiting for me back here.”</p><p>His eyes swept over them, and lingered finally on Akira. “What a ridiculous outfit. But at least it highlights your figure. Either way, you definitely need a haircut. I don’t like short hair, but it’s tolerable when styled.”</p><p>“I don’t give a damn what you find <em>tolerable</em>,” she snapped. “Did you leak my records?”</p><p>He laughed. “Now, I would never! No, I got one of my little peons to do it for me.”</p><p>She grit her teeth together. There was no point in asking <em>why,</em> because she had a pretty good idea why.</p><p>“Why?” Ryuji exclaimed angrily. Thus, to Akira’s dismay, giving Kamoshida the opening he needed to monologue on his intended fate for her.</p><p>“Well, first of all-” he began, when the <em>crack</em> of her handgun echoed through the enclosed room, and he flinched back as the round collided with his head. It didn’t blow his brains out, but it definitely seemed to sting, at least. So she kept doing it.</p><p>By the fifth shot, he had fled the entrance of the room, leaving shadows in his wake.</p><p>“Some of these guys are strong, and there’s a lot of them,” Morgana shouted, voice tense as the guards reformed into more of those curly-horned horse creatures they’d fought earlier. “We should focus on breaking through and getting out of here.”</p><p>Akira nodded as she summoned her sword. “I’ll lead the charge. Protect Ryuji.”</p><p>She tore off her mask and called on Odessa’s strength, like she hadn’t since the last time she’d been here. It flooded through her like a river. Now that she was a bit more familiar with the concepts at play, she could see that Morgana was right; maintaining this strength was straining. But she figured the current circumstances called for it.</p><p>Launching herself forward, she met one of the horses dead on. It lowered its horns to meet her, but she greeted it with the tip of her sword, splitting the skull and killing it instantly.</p><p>The one nearest to her roared and started to swing in a motion that would bring its horns crashing into Akira. She interrupted it by emptying the remaining few bullets into its face, which sent it staggering back. Odessa manifested briefly, mid-swing, to strike it down.</p><p>As she twisted to try and intercept the one she’d turned her back on, it went flying past her in a flurry of green haze and crashed into the wall, falling into a heap.</p><p>With a grin, she continued out through the door, blade flashing.</p><p>There were over a half dozen shadows standing between them and Kamoshida, who looked on from the opposite end of the corridor. Even against the weaker shadows, it was difficult to maintain the aggression they needed to break through entirely without exposing Ryuji to the violent magic flying back and forth. It was inevitable that they started to lose momentum.</p><p>Eventually, she came face to face with another huge horseback knight. This one appeared to be even larger and stronger than the one she’d fought yesterday. So far, Akira had been able to keep herself moving and attacking consistently enough that none of the shadows had been able to pin her down, particularly with Morgana doing crowd control with his wind magic, but she was wearing out, and this one could match her in raw strength. She found herself calling Odessa again, at first to try and break through his guard, and then just to simply defend herself.</p><p>A glance over her shoulder revealed that they had been encircled, and Morgana was having enough trouble keeping the others off her back. She was on her own.</p><p>And after another clash, something struck her from behind and sent her staggering. As she turned to face it, the knight followed up by clubbing her with its shield, sending her careening into the nearby cobblestone wall. The impact cracked the stones, driving the breath from her lungs and the thoughts from her head.</p><p>She thought she heard someone call her name, but she wasn’t in any state to reply. Desperately trying to regain her senses, she struggled to pull herself to her feet, when a boot came slamming down on her back, driving her back to the floor and keeping her there.</p><p>Next thing she knew, she was coughing blood. Everything hurt, but she was able to focus enough to look around. Doing so made her wish she hadn’t.</p><p>Kamoshida stood above her. Beyond him, Morgana was pinned to the ground just as she was, hissing insults at the shadows, while Ryuji looked on in horror. She kept trying to catch her breath, thinking, <em>Figures.</em></p><p>“Transfer, something about you intrigues me,” Kamoshida began, tone smug once more. “What’s the point in acting all hard to get? The real you is public knowledge. I’m surprised you have any shame left to try and cling to.”</p><p>“Don’t you have gym to teach or something?” she grated at him, sneer obvious in her voice.</p><p>Her fuzzy mind was operating on the guess that he wouldn’t like being ‘reduced’ from king to teacher, and if his twisting expression was any indication, she was correct. She was still celebrating this dubious personal victory when the heel of his foot came slamming down on her right hand. Akira choked on the pain, unable to get enough breath to howl.</p><p>“Stop it!” Ryuji, his voice furious but helpless, shouting from the sidelines.</p><p>Kamoshida glanced in his direction, expression furious as he ground his heel deeper into Akira’s hand. It was excruciating. “Why should I do that, Sakamato? When are you idiots going to learn that I hold all the power here? Everyone else gets it! They fall in line.”</p><p>“You ain’t a king, you bastard! You’re just an asshole!”</p><p>The pressure on her hand let up a bit as Kamoshida focused more of his attention on Ryuji. She had the absurd passing thought that she wasn’t sure how she was going to explain a broken hand to Sakura.</p><p>“It’s this kind of rebellion that cost Shujin its track team, you know. Perhaps after I’m done dealing with this cocky bitch, I’ll break your other leg and send you home again to your dear old mother? Maybe permanently, this time.”</p><p>It was hard to focus on events past the pain in her hand and back, but at this she looked up again at Ryuji, who had this horrified, far-away look on his face. For some reason, seeing Ryuji suddenly quaking in fear really pissed her off.</p><p>“God damn it, Ryuji, <em>get mad!</em>” She roared hoarsely.</p><p>Both Ryuji and Kamoshida jumped a bit at the sudden fury in her voice. She had a glimpse of Ryuji’s shocked expression for a moment before Kamoshida’s fist collided with the side of her head, dazing her once more.</p><p>By the time Akira started registering events again, she realized Kamoshida was no longer stepping on her hand. Looking up, she saw him watching Ryuji, who stood down the corridor screaming, hands tight on his head. It took a moment for her to realize what was happening, and she found herself grinning widely.</p><p>Sure enough, after collapsing on the ground he raised his head, hands grasping for a wicked-looking skull mask. Tearing it from his face, he was engulfed in a torrent of blue flames, much as she had been. His clothes morphed into a similarly-styled black jacket, and a metal pipe had appeared in his hands. The overall effect was very <em>punk.</em> Behind him, she saw…a figure standing atop a floating ship? She watched in awe as it solidified into some kind of ridiculous cannon-armed skeleton pirate.</p><p>It was all as impressive as the change in Ryuji’s demeanor. No impotent frustration here; he was all confident cockiness. The first thing he said was, “Wassup, Persona?”</p><p>It suddenly occurred to her that it was time to act, while they were all distracted.</p><p>Her unbroken hand went to her mask, tearing it from her face; as the power flooded her once more, she took advantage of the laxness of the distracted shadow to twist and knock aside the leg, performing a dexterous spinning roll to regain her feet. In the same motion, she called Odessa forth to impale the knight she’d staggered, causing him to burst into metal scraps and shadow goop.</p><p>Looking up, she then saw Ryuji take advantage of <em>her</em> distraction to point at the shadow standing atop Morgana, roaring, “Get ‘em, Captain!”</p><p>The skeleton pirate raised its arm, and literally <em>blew apart</em> the shadow with the cannon. Akira might have been slightly delirious between the pain and adrenaline, but something about that was deeply hilarious to her, and she found herself laughing madly as Morgana hauled himself to his feet, looking a bit worse for wear.</p><p>Even wounded as they were, the odds had shifted significantly. Ryuji and Morgana moved up to form a united front alongside Akira. While doing so, Morgana also sent a healing spell her way; it caused her to gasp as the pain suddenly vanished and she regained full mobility. She sent a grateful glance back at him, as she summoned her sword once more.</p><p>Kamoshida swore viciously, and as he turned to run he shouted, “Kill them! I’m going to get more guards.”</p><p>The shadows didn’t look thrilled, but they did as he’d commanded. Tried to, anyway.</p><p>Ryuji opened up the battle by sending a cascade of lightning into an odd floating horse torso (for lack of a better description), which left it shuddering on the ground. Morgana followed up, exclaiming, “Zorro!” before sending a wind spell to cleave apart one of those golden tear-drop creatures.</p><p>Akira looked at the two pixies in the process of generating lightning to send their way, and felt an idea float her way. She nodded to herself, then raised her fist, exclaiming, “Odessa!”</p><p>Her Persona appeared behind her once more, but this time rather than a sword, it carried a great bow with a string of thin blue flame. Stretching it wide, a hazy white arrow formed. When she released the string, it rocketed toward one of the pixies, destroying it on contact and disrupting the concentration of the other.</p><p>After it became clear they’d won, both Morgana and Akira pulled back and let Ryuji run wild on the remaining shadows. She couldn’t help but grin at the scene; cannon fire and lightning rocked the room, before Ryuji himself ended the fight by smashing the final shadow with the force of a freight train.</p><p>Once the smoke cleared they spent a few moments just catching their breath among the carnage. Akira glanced up at Ryuji, who had returned to his school clothes much as she had the day before. He looked suddenly as exhausted as she had been. “I think we’re done for today.”</p><p>They agreed, and the three of them began to make their way out of the dungeon, following Morgana’s lead. They all seemed a little shell-shocked, but Akira noticed Ryuji would occasionally give a small smile, expression lost in thought. She wondered if that was what she looked like while she was talking to Odessa.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Beef Bowls</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter is actually sponsored by Ore no Beko. Unravel your shared traumas at any of their convenient locations over a delicious and affordable beef bowl.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/12/2016<br/>
Afternoon</p><p>##</p><p>By the time they made it back to their entry point, they all looked ready to pass out. They hadn’t encountered significant resistance on their way back - that they hadn’t been able to avoid, at least - but enough had happened in the two or so hours they’d been exploring the castle that the relief was obvious on all three faces.</p><p>Ryuji had a guilty expression as he glanced at Akira. “How’s your hand?”</p><p>“It’s fine,” she said, massaging it with her other hand. Not even tender. “And so are my ribs. Nice work, Morgana.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m pretty awesome,” the not-cat said, arms crossed and expression cocky.</p><p>She couldn’t help but laugh. Still… “I’m curious, though. If I got stabbed - in real life, that is - could someone drag me into the cognitive world to heal me?”</p><p>Morgana shook his head. “The Metaverse is a physical place, sort of, but it’s more malleable. Injuries here are as much rooted in cognition as they are in physical trauma. Any injuries you get in your world, though, are set in your mind in such a way that makes them resistant to healing magic.”</p><p>“Matter over mind, huh.”</p><p>“I suppose,” Morgana said, glancing back in the direction of the castle. “Anyway. I’ve got a couple of loose ends to tie up here, so you guys should go home. Later, I’ll come visit in your world.”</p><p>“Looking like that?” Ryuji asked tactlessly.</p><p>“D-don’t worry about it!” Morgana exclaimed, although from the look on his face Akira wondered if the thought had even occurred to him before now. “You guys go to this Shujin school, right? I’ll just find you there tomorrow.”</p><p>Akira was not at all sure about that plan, but as she opened her mouth to object, Morgana just spun around and ran off. “…Huh.”</p><p>Ryuji let out an exhausted moan. “Let’s just get outta here. I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”</p><p>She nodded to that.</p><p>##</p><p>It felt almost as discombobulating as last time, to shift back to the mundane from the surreal. Lacking other plans or any desire to return to Leblanc (and the likely questions about her first day), she agreed distractedly when Ryuji asked if she’d like to go get beef bowls, his treat. She was hungry, after all.</p><p>The smell of the place alone left her feeling a bit rejuvenated. They put in an order at the counter, and were silent for a few moments as they both mulled over everything. And there was a <em>lot </em>to mull over.</p><p>Eventually Akira felt like she should be saying something. “Nice job on the Persona. It’s pretty awesome.”</p><p>That got a brief grin from him, though the serious look in his eyes didn’t fade.</p><p>“Right? A goddamn floating pirate skeleton with a cannon for an arm. Who also shoots lightning for some reason. What the hell is going on?”</p><p>“Either reality is a lot stranger than we thought, or we’re both crazy,” Akira replied dryly, shaking her head. “Or maybe just I’m crazy. You might not even be real.”</p><p>Ryuji snorted. “Don’t even joke about that. At this point I’d believe practically anything.”</p><p>“I know the feeling,” she agreed. “I’m just glad I didn’t end up with blood all over my uniform this time.”</p><p>After that, they were quiet until their beef bowls arrived. Ryuji started loading ginger onto his in alarming quantities, but slowed to a stop shortly after. Akira gave him a questioning look.</p><p>“Man,” he began, but faltered. She saw him glance to her bowl - no, not her bowl. The hand Kamoshida had crushed. “Sorry you had to go through that. If I’d’ve gotten my shit together sooner-”</p><p>“Ryuji,” she cut in, interrupting him. He stopped and looked up at her with a grimace, and she realized she’d done so more to stop him from verbalizing that train of thought than because she had any idea of what to say. But this wasn’t something she could just brush off.</p><p>So she decided to wing it. “Things worked out thanks to you. I’m fine now. Plus, I was so amped up on adrenaline I don’t think I was fully feeling it.”</p><p>“Dude, I saw your face,” he pointed out, before sighing and looking back down at his bowl with an unconvinced expression. “I wish I had your guts. An hour ago someone shattered your hand, and now you’re sittin’ there trying to make <em>me</em> feel better about it<em>.</em>”</p><p>“Well,” Akira said, unsure how to respond to that. “Uh.”</p><p>Uncomfortable as the topic was, it did make her reflect. In truth, while the pain had been blunted by the adrenaline to the point where she could still think and act, it had still been an exceptionally unpleasant experience even by her standards. Her mind shied away from recalling that part in any detail.</p><p>But she did have to admit that her tolerance for physical pain had risen drastically in the last six months. How could it have not? It had become a regular occurrence. Another unpleasant slot in her schedule to endure. Like a chore.</p><p>Akira recalled a dull memory of a morning in the detention center, though she couldn’t have said when during her time there it had been. Earlier on, she thought. She had two sessions with two different tutors, later that day.</p><p>A while back she’d been informed she was being assigned tutors to assist in her schoolwork, despite her grades being fine. Naturally, it turned out that these tutors were fellow ‘students,’ none of whom had any business being tutors, and all of whom had been given one reason or another to dislike her. It went without saying that they also had authority over her; defending herself would earn her an uglier record and harsher sentence, as nobody was going to take her word over theirs.</p><p>One of them was particularly nasty about it. To the point where Akira had begun privately thinking of her sessions as her ‘weekly beatings.’ Another didn’t use violence, but piled downright nonsensical or spiteful busywork on Akira while she used the time to slack off and berate her viciously.</p><p>One was physically exhausting, the other emotionally exhausting. She didn’t realize that morning just how strange it was, but she’d felt equal dread toward both sessions.</p><p>The coping mechanisms she’d developed to deal with pain now bothered her more than actual pain did. That did not seem to be the thing to say to Ryuji, though.</p><p>“Pain is just pain,” she told him simply, giving up on finding a more eloquent answer. “There are worse things. It happened and now it’s over. Nothing to do but keep going.”</p><p>It didn’t really look like that had made him feel any better, but his expression was more thoughtful as he resumed shoveling ginger onto his bowl.</p><p>The food was pretty good, and once they started neither of them were willing to stop for more talk. It wasn’t until Ryuji was half-way through his second bowl that he started to slow down.</p><p>“So,” he said slowly. “The volleyball team, huh.”</p><p>Akira nodded. “If I’m being honest, I sort of like the ‘beat him up with magical powers’ idea best. But it’s not the right way to do this.”</p><p>“Ha!” Ryuji smirked at that. “Agreed on both counts.”</p><p>“I'm not sure what the best approach is here,” she continued, sighing. “People stare at me wherever I go, and nobody wants to talk to me. Not the best circumstances to be asking nosy questions about the establishment. And Kamoshida already has his eyes on me. This could backfire pretty badly.”</p><p>“I’m in a similar boat, really.”</p><p>At that, Akira glanced at him. “He does seem to have a particular problem with you. And he keeps gloating about the track team. I’m assuming those are related.”</p><p>He winced, and she regretted her directness.</p><p>“Yeah. A while back, he, uh...” Ryuji scratched the back of his neck, seemingly looking for the right words. “Well, he was giving the track team ridiculous practices. And when we couldn’t live up to them, he made them more intense. He wasn’t as obvious about it back then, but I’m pretty sure he’d already started hurting people he coached, too. We still didn’t quit, or stand up to him.</p><p>“Eventually, somehow, he found out about my family situation. My dad was a piece of shit, and bailed on us. Mom’s been raisin’ me by herself since. He started trash talking her, and comparing me to my dad. One day, I lost it and hit him. Then he broke my leg, and used the whole mess to justify breaking up the track team.”</p><p>That jolted her. “Broke your <em>leg</em>?”</p><p>“Yeah,” he confirmed. No wonder he’d had such an intense reaction to the stuff they’d seen in the dungeon. “Ended up bein’ a case of ‘self-defense.’ Said he accidentally fell on it while trying to subdue me. They would have expelled me, but he asked them to keep me enrolled. He did it out of spite, but everyone believes he feels bad about a misunderstanding and was trying to make it up to me. But I can’t pretend I don’t hate him. Which makes me the ungrateful punk that ruined track for the whole team.”</p><p>“That fucking sucks,” she said disgustedly over her empty bowl. “I’m sorry, Ryuji.”</p><p>He got a little flustered at that, and looked away from her. “A-anyway, the reason I bring it up is because everyone’ll be on guard with me too, if I go around asking about Kamoshida or his team.”</p><p>Akira nodded. “Maybe we’ll just have to be careful about who we approach. Can you think of any of them that might listen to reason?”</p><p>“Uh…” Ryuji’s eyes narrowed as he thought about it. “I mean, I don’t know most of them very well. But maybe Suzui. She’s also friends with Ann.”</p><p>“Ann Takamaki?”</p><p>He nodded. “The one Kamoshida’s been creeping on. Suzui’s super nice. She might put up with Kamoshida herself, but I think if she knew Ann might be in danger…well, she might help, at any rate.”</p><p>“We could also ask Ann herself what’s up,” Akira mused. “She was friendly to me in class, even after my records leaked. And you said you used to know her?”</p><p>“In middle school, and not super well. But she still knows me, even if we don’t really talk anymore.”</p><p>“Seems like they’re our best starting point,” she said, pushing her bowl away from her. “We can talk to them tomorrow.”</p><p>He sighed. “This is gonna be awkward.”</p><p>Akira scoffed softly. “This is going to be awkward no matter who we ask. Not many people like talking about being abused.”</p><p>“I guess you’re right.”</p><p>Ryuji paid for their meals, and they left to wander aimlessly around Shibuya; Akira had to kill some time, for the trains to clear up a bit. Eventually, as they sat on a bench in a relatively quiet part of the district, Ryuji had a question for her.</p><p>“So…you don’t gotta answer if you don’t want,” he began awkwardly. “But I was wondering...”</p><p>“About my record.”</p><p>Ryuji already looked like he was regretting bringing it up. She sighed. He <em>had</em> told her about his traumatic past. Maybe it was only fair. But at the same time…</p><p>“It’s a long story. I don’t really have the time to get into it, even if I had it in me,” she said quietly, unable to keep an edge out of her voice.</p><p>He looked chagrined, and nodded. “No worries. I get it.”</p><p>It made Akira feel embarrassed, though <em>why</em> she couldn’t really explain. It compelled her to blurt out, “But it's all bullshit.”</p><p>At that he glanced up, looking a bit shocked. “What do you mean?”</p><p><em>Idiot</em>, her logic told her disgustedly. <em>Fabricated or no, there’s a veritable mountain of evidence against me. Denying it just looks pathetic.</em></p><p><em>But admitting to it IS pathetic,</em> her anger countered confidently. <em>And Ryuji went through something similar. He’s gonna believe us.</em></p><p>In for a penny, in for a pound. It came out of her in a clipped tone. “The man I ‘assaulted.’ He’s powerful. I caught him doing something awful, and he lied to the police to have me arrested. I was convicted after he strong-armed the other witness into testifying against me.”</p><p>It was not even close to the full story. But it was more than she’d given anyone since she realized insisting on her innocence was pointless.</p><p>“So he just ruined your life? And you didn’t do <em>anything</em> wrong?” Ryuji exclaimed. It sounded like he was getting legitimately angry.</p><p>Akira just nodded, not really trusting herself to speak.</p><p>“That fucking pisses me off,” Ryuji said darkly. One of his shoes began to tap rapidly on the concrete. “Man, it’s like everywhere you go, there’s some shitty bastard stompin’ all over everyone around him just to get what he wants.”</p><p>No argument there. Still, seeing him so obviously incensed over her predicament started to loosen the knot in her gut. <em>Told you,</em> her anger commented smugly. It made her laugh.</p><p>He looked up at her, surprised. Akira drummed her fingers on the bench’s arm rest before explaining, a small smile still on her face.</p><p>“I had a feeling you’d believe me. But you’re the first person I’ve told the truth to in a long time. I can’t help feeling relieved that you do.”</p><p>He got really red after that. It was hilarious, but she refrained from showing it.</p><p>“Well,” he started, glancing away. “I mean, I never looked up the record myself. Just seemed like it woulda been a bit messed up to, you know? But the rumors I overheard today didn’t sound much like you at all. And rumors are usually bullshit anyway. So yeah, man, I believe you.”</p><p>Now it was her turn to flush. Akira had never even considered the possibility that he hadn’t read her record. “Thanks.”</p><p>Suddenly, time seemed to slow - just like it had that first day here, before she’d even gotten to Leblanc. She felt the snap of a chain breaking inside her, and the kind voice from earlier echoed in her head.</p><p>
  <em>I am thou, thou art I…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Thou hast acquired a new vow.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>With the birth of the Chariot Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.</em>
</p><p>Akira suddenly recognized the earlier familiarity; it sounded almost like…Justine’s mannerisms, in Caroline’s voice? They sounded too similar to say for sure either way. In any case, the potential link was too significant to ignore.</p><p>Then the next thing she knew, Ryuji was giving her a concerned look again. Suddenly, between the things she’d learned today, the heavy conversations she’d had, and the sudden appearance of more inexplicable bullshit, she needed a break. Sighing, she stood up.</p><p>“I should probably get back. Sakura will be concerned if I show up too late.”</p><p>“Okay,” he said, as he nodded to her. Then, he seemed to realize something, and pulled out his phone. “Uh, let’s exchange info, first!”</p><p>She couldn’t believe she’d almost forgotten to do that <em>again.</em> Nodding, she got her phone out as well, and they traded numbers.</p><p>After that, they walked quietly back to the station. But it was a comfortable quiet.</p><p>##</p><p>4/12/2016<br/>
Evening</p><p>##</p><p>By the time she arrived at Leblanc, Akira was feeling a bit better about everything. Still anxious about the very real dangers posed by Kamoshida and her probation, of course, but she felt like she had something she hadn’t had in a long while:</p><p>Options.</p><p>And support. Ryuji, who she now felt comfortable calling a friend, despite how little time they’d known each other. And Morgana, who…was Morgana. Honestly, she had no idea what was going on there. But they’d probably saved each other’s lives. And to be honest he really did not strike her as a whisker-twirling villain.</p><p>The imagery of which would stay with her for a long time. She found herself wondering at one point if he’d be willing to wear a top hat and monocle. On second thought, maybe she shouldn’t; her heart might not be able to take it.</p><p>Leblanc was empty, aside from Sakura. It wasn’t <em>that</em> late, but he still looked a bit relieved when she walked in. She nodded to him as she took a seat at the counter, tossing her bag into the seat next to her, sighing in relief.</p><p>“Hungry?” He asked.</p><p>Akira shook her head, giving him a small smile. “Thanks, but I had dinner with a friend. I would take a coffee though, if you’re offering.”</p><p>“Coming right up.”</p><p>She knew it probably wasn’t smart to start drinking coffee in the evenings, but screw being smart. She’d had a long day.</p><p>Her phone suddenly buzzed. Taking it out of her bag, she saw it was a message from Ryuji.</p><p><strong>Ryuji:<br/>
</strong>Yo! Akira!<br/>
You seeing this?</p><p>She briefly grinned as she typed up a quick response.</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong>Nope.</p><p><strong>Ryuji:<br/>
</strong>Very funny. I guess that means you got home fine.</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong>I actually stumbled into a totally different alternate dimension on the way.</p><p><strong>Ryuji:<br/>
</strong> Remember when I said not to joke about that?</p><p>She set the phone aside as Sakura set a fresh cup of coffee down in front of her. Giving it a sip, it erased the last of her reservations about evening coffee.</p><p>“Had a good day, then?” He asked, settling up against the counter.</p><p>“Uh,” she said, not really sure how to answer that. “It was a day of highs and lows.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>Akira wondered how much to tell him. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to start talking about how she found out her gym teacher was abusive by going into his brain.</p><p>She decided to keep it simple. “Well, my records got leaked already to the student body. I’m basically a pariah - one of the student librarians already tried to ban me from the library.”</p><p><em>“What?”</em> he exclaimed, standing to face her directly. “Are you serious?”</p><p>“Yeah,” she confirmed. “It sucks.”</p><p>“That’s…how did it leak? And so fast?”</p><p>Here is where things started to get dicey on the truth front. “I’m not sure.”</p><p>“The staff knew, didn’t they?” Sakura said, expression grim. “Who else?”</p><p>“I have no idea. Too many people for it to remain secret for long.”</p><p>He gave a long sigh. “True. Well, I’m sorry. Keep your head down.”</p><p>Akira just nodded to that and took another long sip of her coffee.</p><p>“You said highs and lows, though. So something good happened today, at least?”</p><p>She nodded. “Most of the school has been avoiding me like the plague, but I’ve met a few people who seem cool. The student council president told that librarian off, which was pretty funny. And I hung out with Ryuji after school. He’s a good guy.”</p><p>“He did give me that impression,” Sakura said, sighing again. “Just be careful. Don’t want the school getting the wrong idea.”</p><p>
  <em>They already have the wrong idea.</em>
</p><p>But she thought better of saying that part out loud, instead returning to her coffee and conversation with Ryuji.</p><p>##</p><p>Akira wasn’t at all surprised when she found herself in a cell again that night.</p><p>
  <strong>“Welcome to my Velvet Room.”</strong>
</p><p>Approaching the bars, she took a close look at Caroline and Justine. To her surprise, her scrutiny seemed to unnerve them. Just a little.</p><p>“W-what are you looking at, Inmate?” Caroline demanded harshly.</p><p>“You.”</p><p>That seemed to flummox them long enough for Igor to continue.</p><p>
  <strong>“I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight. That is why I have summoned you. What are your thoughts? Are you becoming accustomed to this place?”</strong>
</p><p>“Are you joking?” She said bluntly. “It’s been three days.”</p><p>
  <strong>“Yet you have no problem speaking your mind. It seems you have nerves of steel.”</strong>
</p><p>Akira could not decide if that was a subtle threat or a joke.</p><p>
  <strong>“Your rehabilitation determines if ruin can be stopped. Yet, such a feat cannot be done by you alone. But today, you entered a partnership with someone who awoke to the same power, haven’t you?”</strong>
</p><p>“You mean Ryuji?”</p><p>
  <strong>“Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You’ve done well. That said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships. It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength.”</strong>
</p><p>Justine added, “Personas are the strength of heart. The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain.”</p><p><strong>“In other words,” </strong>Igor continued, “<strong>They are bonds with those who have been robbed of their places to belong. The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well.”</strong></p><p>“So you better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side, Inmate,” Caroline continued. “We’ll change that into power.”</p><p>Even with all the strange things that she’d experienced in the last few days, Akira could hardly believe what she was hearing. “You’re saying I need to fight ‘ruin’ with the <em>power of friendship?”</em></p><p>Igor replied as though that were totally reasonable. <strong>“Indeed. You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition.”</strong></p><p>Time slowed once more, and that voice returned.</p><p>
  <em>I am thou, thou art I…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Thou hast acquired a new vow.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>With the birth of the Fool Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.</em>
</p><p>Then the feeling of another chain snapping. Igor chuckled.</p><p>
  <strong>“It seems we have a deal then.”</strong>
</p><p>She just stared at it. “Is that going to happen every time I meet someone important? It’s kind of distracting.”</p><p>
  <strong>“You will understand it all in due time…Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation.”</strong>
</p><p>“This conversation’s over!” Caroline exclaimed. “Get lost, Inmate!”</p><p>The bell, then rafters.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This one was a bit tough! I ended up rewriting the beef bowl and bench scenes several times because I just couldn't be satisfied with the result. I'm fairly happy with this one though. I'm also looking forward to writing Ann and Shiho, and how they'll react to this different approach I'm going for. Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Roadblocks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akira and Ryuji enjoy an afternoon off relaxing at the volleyball rally.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A bunch of characters I haven't written much before in this chapter! I always struggle with stuff like this, before the voice of a character clicks with me. But I think this is passable, at least.</p><p>As ever, I'd be glad to hear your input!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/13/2016<br/>
Morning</p><p>##</p><p><strong>Ryuji:<br/>
</strong>When should we try to talk to them?</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong>Whenever we get the chance. I'll ask Ann if you want to find Suzui.</p><p><strong>Ryuji:<br/>
</strong>Works for me. I doubt Ann would talk to me about Kamoshida, anyway.</p><p>Akira privately agreed as she put her phone away, turning her attention to her morning curry. She felt a little worried about leaving Ryuji unsupervised with a task like this, but admonished herself for it; if this was going to work, she needed to be able to trust him.</p><p>Trust. Now that was a weird thought. Up until a couple of days ago she'd sometimes wondered if she'd ever be able to trust anybody again. Now she realized with no small degree of shock that she actually <em>did</em> feel like she could trust Ryuji.</p><p>It was the moment he'd thrown himself into that guard to try to help her escape, knowing he'd almost certainly die doing so. The memory of it was clearer than Akira wanted it to be; she still felt a wave of shame when she thought on how she'd just stared at them, unable to move. Ryuji's complete lack of hesitation and the look on his face were things she would likely never forget.</p><p><em>There's also what Igor said,</em> her logic added. <em>If it's true,</em> <em>the 'vow' that formed between us yesterday basically confirms that our friendship is genuine.</em></p><p><em>Stop cheapening it,</em> the anger replied irritably. <em>Screw the supernatural shit. Ryuji's earned it. And we need it.</em></p><p>##</p><p>Akira arrived at school very early that morning. She figured it was best to move quickly, and hoped she'd be able to catch Takamaki on her way in; less chance of being overheard, and she might be more comfortable talking off school grounds.</p><p>There was a café with some outdoor tables just down the road from Shujin, in the general direction of the street she’d bumped into Ann last time. Akira ended up ordering a coffee so she could take a seat, pulling out her copy of the Odyssey. Thankfully, her mop of hair provided a screen of sorts that allowed her to watch from her book without being obvious about it.</p><p>She spent a while there, as students and faculty gradually began to filter in. She did get some looks from students walking by who may have recognized her, but as she expected, nobody stopped to try and talk to her.</p><p>Except, of course, Kamoshida.</p><p>She saw him turn the corner just one street down in his car. She couldn’t exactly leap up and run off. And just as her luck demanded, he slowed to a stop in front of her, window rolling down.</p><p>Akira cursed herself viciously. Why hadn’t she seen this coming? He’d come from this direction, too. She glanced up at him more obviously after a moment.</p><p>“Morning!” Kamoshida told her cheerfully from his car. “Glad to see you made it on time.”</p><p>Listen to this smarmy fuck. “Good morning.”</p><p>“What are you doing out here? There’s plenty of nice places to read in Shujin, you know.”</p><p>Akira could see where this was going. She expended considerable effort to place a fake smile on her face. “I wanted to try the coffee.”</p><p>Then Kamoshida’s face went thoughtful, and a little sad. “Oh, I see. After the leak, you probably feel a bit unwelcome here, huh?”</p><p>Her anger made strangled noises in her gut. Or strangling noises. She wasn’t sure.</p><p>“I’ll survive,” she said briefly.</p><p>“Well,” he said, appearing to think on it. “I know it can’t be easy. If you ever need an ear, or want a quiet place to read or eat, my office is always open.”</p><p>She fought off the urge to vomit. “Thanks.”</p><p>He gave her another smile. “In any case, I’ll see you at the rally today! Later!”</p><p>Then he drove off, leaving her to wonder what he meant by ‘rally.’</p><p>Akira set the book down, rubbing at her forehead. She definitely needed to put more thought into avoiding him. The more contact they had in real life, the faster the situation would devolve; she figured she still had a while before he started threatening her probation, but it wasn’t worth risking.</p><p>And there was no telling how their activities in the Palace might accelerate things. She suddenly remembered Morgana saying it wasn’t safe to use names in one, and it made a lot more sense to her now. Too bad he’d already identified her.</p><p>Speaking of Morgana, what he’d said yesterday felt a little more weighty after this encounter. Did she really have the time to do this by the book?</p><p>Would she be willing to risk melting Kamoshida’s brain to save herself?</p><p><em>This guy’s no different from the asshole who put you in this situation, </em>her anger pointed out. <em>What he deserves is a cell that you know he’s probably never going to see.</em></p><p>Then her logic added coldly, <em>Either way, he’d be out of my hair.</em></p><p>Akira couldn’t help shuddering a little. She’d run from it initially, but the truth was that she could probably live with herself just fine if she accidentally killed Kamoshida. Her main objection was pretty much philosophical - she felt an obligation to her little remaining dignity to at least try to do this the right way, particularly given how shaky and second-hand her understanding of the situation was.</p><p>But was this the right way?</p><p>Her plan hinged on putting victims up against a rigged system that stood to lose if they were heard. Victims who were currently within the reach of an active abuser.</p><p>Suddenly her mind was all doubts. What was the best path, here?</p><p>“Are you okay?”</p><p>Her gaze snapped up suddenly. To her surprise, it was Ann, looking at her with a sort of reluctant concern. Akira realized there was a pretty good chance Ann had seen her interacting with Kamoshida. And while she wasn’t sure what expression she’d been making just now, she doubted it was a pleasant one.</p><p>She’d put a lot of thought into what she was going to say to Ann. But this was an opportunity she hadn’t expected, so she threw all her planning out the window.</p><p>“Is Kamoshida dangerous?” She asked bluntly.</p><p>The girl’s shocked reaction and delayed, tongue-tied response told her everything she needed to know. “H-he, uh, well…”</p><p>Glancing away, Akira sighed. “I have no proof, but someone told me he had a student leak my record. Now he’s trying to get me to spend time in his office alone. The students he coaches are all beat to hell. And I saw your reaction when he picked you up the other day. I’ve been in a situation like this before. Something’s not right.”</p><p>Akira thought that if she hadn’t piled it all together like that, Ann would have probably denied it. But as her grip on her bag shifted along with her uncertain expression, after a few moments Ann admitted, “You’re right. You should try to stay away from him.”</p><p>Akira nodded grimly, then looked Ann in the eyes. “What about you?”</p><p>“I-,” Ann stuttered and looked aside, unable to form a response.</p><p><em>Way</em> too forward, Kurusu. “Sorry. That’s probably personal. I’m just trying to figure out what to do about this.”</p><p>“Um,” Ann began, before biting her lip and hesitating. “Maybe we could talk after school? Give me some time to think about everything.”</p><p>Akira nodded. “Sure. Thanks.”</p><p>At that, Ann gave her a shaky smile and hurried on to Shujin.</p><p>Though her doubts didn’t vanish, Akira did feel pretty good about accomplishing her initial goal so quickly. She pulled out her phone.</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong>Ann admitted things are bad. I’m meeting her after school to talk about it.</p><p><strong>Ryuji:<br/>
</strong>Already? Damn dude, I haven’t even gotten to school yet.</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong> I got lucky. Sort of.</p><p>With that, she put the phone away and stood to get to school herself, mediocre coffee in hand.</p><p>##</p><p>Turns out there was a volleyball rally that afternoon. From the sound of things, people had been talking about it for a while; Akira assumed she’d just been too preoccupied to notice.</p><p>Well, there was also the fact that almost nobody was talking to her.</p><p>She spent most of her morning ignoring the endless awkward glances and careful mutterings just out of earshot, staring through her bangs out the window, lost in her conundrum.</p><p>At one point, her social studies teacher tried to surprise her with an off-the-wall question about the Cabinet, assuming she wasn’t paying attention. He was right, but she enjoyed the surprise in his face as she answered correctly anyway.</p><p><em>Fuck your expectations,</em> her anger hissed uselessly at him.</p><p>Aside from that, the morning was uneventful. Right before lunch, she got a text to meet Ryuji in the courtyard. Grabbing a snack bread, she began making her way when she got distracted while trying to maneuver around a girl standing in the way of the courtyard door, amidst the small crowd hanging around.</p><p>The girl looked beat - both literally and figuratively. She had a nasty bruise just above her eye, and upon further examination Akira also saw smaller bruises on her arms and legs - which looked pretty toned. Could this be one of Kamoshida’s players?</p><p>Eventually the girl jumped a bit after she glanced up and saw Akira standing there, looking at her. “Oh! I’m sorry, I’m in the way, aren’t I?”</p><p>Shaking her head, Akira said, “No worries. Are you okay? That bruise looks pretty fresh.”</p><p>“Y-yes, I’m fine. Just hit my head on something. Pretty silly, right?” the girl said, giving an unconvincing laugh as she moved to the side. “Um, are you the transfer student?”</p><p>Akira sighed inwardly. “Yes.”</p><p>“W-well, I just wanted to say, try not to let the rumors get to you. You seem nice.”</p><p>That surprised her. “Oh. Uh, thank you.”</p><p>“I have a friend who gets a lot of the same treatment from people who don’t know her,” the girl said, glancing aside. “People here are careless of others. Sorry you have to deal with that.”</p><p>Akira felt a little flustered. “It’s okay. They’ll get used to me eventually.”</p><p>“I hope so,” she said, before smiling sadly at her. “I’ve got to go get ready for the rally. Have a good day!”</p><p>She watched the girl walk off, before continuing on into the courtyard. There was another person who would probably continue suffering until Kamoshida was dealt with. Was it fair to make her wait on Akira’s conscience?</p><p>Out in the courtyard, Ryuji was leaning against a wall by the vending machines, looking irritable. Akira took a seat at the nearby table facing him. “Any luck?”</p><p>“I just talked to Shiho a few minutes ago,” he said in a low voice. “She ain’t cut out for lying, but she did it anyway, even though we both could tell she wasn’t bein’ honest.”</p><p>Akira winced. “It’s a rough subject. That doesn’t surprise me.”</p><p>Ryuji sighed. “How’d you get Ann to talk?”</p><p>“She hasn’t ‘talked,’ yet,” she pointed out, before she summarized the events of that morning.</p><p>“Fucking Kamoshida,” Ryuji said, leg tapping away as it seemed to whenever he got angry. “Are you gonna be okay if he keeps approaching you like that?”</p><p>Akira shrugged. “I don’t intend to let things go on that long, one way or another. For now, I’m just going to avoid him as much as possible.”</p><p>“Is he gonna let you?” He asked, meeting her eyes.</p><p>She was hoping Ryuji would buy the unconcerned act, but she’d already noticed that he could be a lot sharper than he looked.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking,” Akira replied after a moment, staring at the bread in her hands. “Say Ann and Shiho do decide to back us up. We’ll be asking them to share the danger. If things go wrong, their lives could be ruined alongside ours. Is this the right way to do this?”</p><p>Ryuji’s expression got serious. “You’re thinkin’ of the cat’s way?”</p><p>She nodded. “You made a good point. Is he going to let me avoid him? I was thinking that if he didn’t, I’d probably be willing to go ahead with Plan B for Brainwash. But if I’m willing to do that to save my own skin, isn’t it hypocritical for me to say it’s going <em>too far</em> to do it for the other people who are dealing with pretty much the same thing? Especially when the alternative puts those same people in <em>more </em>danger?”</p><p>“Man.” Ryuji’s eyes were wide as he walked up and took a seat next to her. “That’s heavy.”</p><p>“Yep. What do you think?”</p><p>Ryuji looked at the table. “I mean, I hate Kamoshida. I’d throw a party if he fell down some stairs and died. And I get what you’re sayin’ about others, but…I’m not sure murder’s a line I even wanna <em>risk</em> crossing, you know? Not unless we have to.”</p><p>She couldn’t really fault him for that. “It seemed simpler in that dungeon.”</p><p>“No kidding.”</p><p>##</p><p>4/13/2016<br/>
Afternoon</p><p>##</p><p>The volleyball rally was as blatant an ego trip as Ryuji had warned her it would be.</p><p>Akira spent most of it nodding along to Ryuji’s muttered complaints and cataloging the volleyball team. The pair of them had chosen a place near the rear of the rally, and people were more than happy to give them space to talk in relative privacy.</p><p>Her eyes drifted over Ann, who sat off to the side, twirling her hair, with a far-off expression on her face.</p><p>
  <em>Even his victims have reasons to protect him.</em>
</p><p>“I wonder where Morgana is?” Akira wondered. “I expected to see him by now.”</p><p>“Who knows?” Ryuji yawned. “Not like he can walk around as a tiny cat mascot. If he doesn’t show, we can find him again at the castle.”</p><p>It was at this point that Kamoshida spiked the ball directly into a student’s face. Akira had to wince. “Ow.”</p><p>“No way that was on accident,” Ryuji grated out. “God, he’s the worst.”</p><p>“Who was that?” She asked as the boy (who she recognized from her class) was helped up and out of the gym by a pair of students, trailed by what she assumed was the school nurse, given the outfit.</p><p>Kamoshida didn’t even really make much of a token show of concern, almost immediately getting back into the game.</p><p>“Mishima. Quiet kid. I’ve seen Kamoshida trash talk him pretty hard even in front of people,” Ryuji crossed his arms. “He might be worth asking.”</p><p>“Do you think he’d tell Kamoshida about it?”</p><p>He frowned. “I dunno. He’s always been kind of a pushover.”</p><p>“So he might.”</p><p>“Or he’ll keep quiet, to try and keep his head down,” Ryuji pointed out. “I could always go alone. Kamoshida already knows I hate him.”</p><p>“Yeah, but not that you’re actively trying to build a case against him,” Akira protested. “I don’t want to put you in his crosshairs before we even have a real plan of attack.”</p><p>“I suppose,” he said, looking unconvinced. “I’m not sure we’ll get another shot like this, though. Dude's gotta be pissed. And everyone's distracted by the rally. Even if Mishima won’t help, we might learn something.”</p><p>That was true. Akira sighed. “Sounds pretty high risk. But if you think he’s really worth asking, I’ll back you up.”</p><p>That earned her a grin. “Sure. Plus, it gives us an excuse to skip out on this lame-ass rally. Let’s get out of here.”</p><p>No objections there.</p><p>##</p><p>“Sakamato?” Mishima said, lying on the bed looking miserable, in a surprised and apprehensive voice. His eyes widened when Akira followed Ryuji into the room. “A-and the transfer? What’s this about?”</p><p>The nurse’s office was empty, aside from Mishima. They’d waited about five minutes for the nurse to treat Mishima and leave again; Ryuji had scoffed that she was probably going right back to the rally.</p><p>“Relax, man, we just wanna chat,” Ryuji said, a tense grin on his face that was not at all comforting. “That was a pretty ugly spike you took back there.”</p><p>Mishima winced, looking away. “Yeah, it hurt.”</p><p>Ryuji crossed his arms. “Probably hurt even more knowin’ he did it on purpose, right?”</p><p>Akira inwardly sighed. She supposed it really wasn’t any more brash than her ‘is Kamoshida dangerous?’ approach earlier that morning.</p><p>“W-what do you mean?” Mishima protested, eyes widening. “It was just an accident!”</p><p>“That seems to happen a lot, here,” Akira pointed out quietly. “A lot of injuries and accidents for a team run by an Olympic medalist.”</p><p>At her words, Mishima looked away, completely flustered. “It’s not…like that.”</p><p>“What’s it like, then?” Ryuji pressed.</p><p>“He pushes us hard because that’s how you succeed,” he said, in a defeated voice. “If we can’t take the training, we can’t take the pressure of competing at a national level.”</p><p>Akira could almost hear those words in Kamoshida’s voice. “Do you believe that?”</p><p>“Does it matter if I do or not?” Mishima snapped suddenly, glancing up at the pair of them. “It’s how things are. I’d have thought you’d understand that better than anybody, Sakamato.”</p><p>Oof. Akira watched Ryuji’s face turn red. But Mishima continued before he could retort.</p><p>“I don’t know what you guys are planning, but it’s not going to work. The staff, our parents…everyone already knows how things are with Kamoshida.”</p><p>“What?” Ryuji was brought up short.</p><p>Mishima just nodded, looking away. “And it won’t matter if you go to the police, because they'll all protect him. It’s not like you’re the first ones with the idea.”</p><p>Akira and Ryuji shared a glance.</p><p>“I-I won’t tell Kamoshida about any of this. Just…leave me alone,” Mishima finished, voice losing what little passion it briefly had. “I don’t want to end up like you guys.”</p><p>Ryuji looked ready to push back, but Akira poked him and shook her head. Gritting his teeth, he turned and followed her to the door.</p><p>“Transfer, wait.”</p><p>She glanced back at him. Mishima’s expression was conflicted. “I, uh. Well. He’s been asking around about you. And…you should be careful.”</p><p>Oh boy. “Thanks.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he said, looking aside.</p><p>Part of her wanted to ask what for, but they’d already pushed this conversation much farther than was safe. She just nodded and continued out of the room.</p><p>They ended up reconvening on the rooftop. Ryuji’s fist came slamming down on a table as Akira leaned up against another.</p><p>“Damn it!” He exclaimed. “Talk about a low blow.”</p><p>“Everyone knows, huh.”</p><p>“It’s- not everyone can. To the students, it’s just rumors.”</p><p>She crossed her arms, unconvinced. “They might not know the extent of it, but you’d have to be pretty blind to be here day in, day out and not see something’s up.”</p><p>Or to watch your kid come home every day miserable with new bruises, and do nothing. Her grip briefly tightened on her sleeve as she felt an intense wave of angry revulsion.</p><p>Akira thought then of Kawakami. She’d stood up to Kamoshida briefly…but both teachers had looked surprised after she’d done it. Did her homeroom teacher know about the abuse? Mishima was in her class. Maybe she could ask.</p><p>Ryuji just sunk into a chair, looking disgusted. “Man, what the fuck’s wrong with our school?”</p><p>“I’ve been wondering that since I got here.”</p><p>##</p><p>The rest of the afternoon dragged on, with no sign of Morgana. Akira was approached by Ann while she gathered her things from her desk at the end of the day, and asked to meet at a small café in Shibuya. She’d agreed, wondering how much of her time in Tokyo would be spent in coffee shops. Ryuji decided to kill some time at the nearby arcade in the meantime.</p><p>As she followed her GPS’ directions to the café, Akira spotted Ann on the way, standing off away from the crowds near a wall in a relatively quiet part of the station. She turned to go greet her.</p><p>It was only after she got closer that she realized Ann looked upset, and was talking in low, rapid tones to someone on the phone.</p><p>“You call yourself a teacher?” She hissed. After a moment, her eyes widened. “Shiho’s…you can’t do that! She doesn’t have anything to do with this!”</p><p>Akira stopped in her tracks, unsure what to do.</p><p>“But…” Ann’s fist tightened, as the person on the other line spoke. After a few moments, it seems like they’d hung up on her, because she lowered the phone, looking at it with a miserable expression on her face.</p><p>“Are you okay?”</p><p>Ann whirled to face her, expression sharpening instantly. “Haven’t you ever heard of privacy? Were you eavesdropping?”</p><p>“Not on purpose,” Akira replied mildly. “I was on my way over when I saw you here. I didn’t realize you were on the phone.”</p><p>“How much did you hear?” The blond girl seemed puzzled by Akira’s lack of reaction.</p><p>“Not much. You were arguing with someone. I think I could guess who.”</p><p>At that Ann looked away. “Let’s go find a table.”</p><p>##</p><p>“So what is your deal?” Ann demanded, after they’d taken a seat at a secluded table with their drinks. “I see you that first day, but you don’t show up to school. I hear all sorts of weird rumors about how you skipped with Ryuji, of all people. And now today, Shiho says she talked to both of you at lunch, and both of you asked about her injuries.”</p><p>“That was Shiho?” Akira asked, surprised. “I didn’t realize that’s who I was talking to. She was nice.”</p><p>“She’s-” Ann began, before getting flustered and looking aside. “Don’t change the subject. If you want me to talk about this, I have to know what you’re up to.”</p><p>It was a fair question. She tried out the lie they’d agreed on. “That first day, I ended up falling in a puddle and had a panic attack. Ryuji found me and helped me deal with it, after which I went home.”</p><p><em>“Ryuji</em> helped you get through a panic attack?” Ann looked surprised, and a bit skeptical. “Then why did he get suspended?”</p><p>An edge entered Akira's voice. “Because the school had the same reaction you just did."</p><p>Ann flinched at that.</p><p>Getting mad on Ryuji’s behalf wasn’t going to help anything. Akira sighed. “Ryuji’s helping me figure out a way to deal with Kamoshida. He said that you and Shiho were probably safe to talk to, and might be willing to step forward to protect each other.”</p><p>Ann looked down into her drink. “Protect each other…you mean like, reporting him to the police?”</p><p>“That was our initial plan,” Akira confirmed.</p><p>Akira saw Ann’s grip tighten on her glass. “Shiho…insists that she wants this. That volleyball is the most important thing to her, and that going against Kamoshida would ruin that.”</p><p>“Does Shiho know that he’s after you, too?”</p><p>The answer to that was in Ann’s expression.</p><p>“You should talk to her,” Akira urged.</p><p>Tears formed in her eyes, which Ann hurriedly started wiping clean with her sweatshirt sleeve. “I-I don’t get you. I came here expecting to give <em>you</em> advice.”</p><p>Akira smiled briefly at that. She gave Ann a few moments to calm down.</p><p>“Alright. I’ll talk to Shiho,” Ann eventually agreed. “But I don’t know what I’m going to do about Kamoshida. He’s threatening her spot on the team if I don’t meet him at his place. You know what that means.”</p><p>“Fucking scumbag,” Akira snarled, glaring aside. Ann looked surprised at the sudden heat in her voice, so Akira tempered it and said, “Don’t go.”</p><p>Ann sighed. “I wasn’t planning on it. But I don’t know how to protect Shiho from the consequences.”</p><p>“Start by talking to her about it.”</p><p>“You sure like pointing out the obvious,” the blond girl grumbled.</p><p>“Sometimes the answer is obvious,” Akira said quietly. “It’s just usually not easy.”</p><p>As Ann seemed to think about this, Akira couldn’t help applying her words to her own situation. Was the right answer obvious? She supposed if she couldn’t make up her mind, maybe it wasn’t.</p><p>But at the same time, it felt like after today there was a part of her that already knew what she was going to do. Even if the rest of her hadn’t accepted it yet.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Escalation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akira considers her options.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Man, fuck 2020. Probably a sentiment many of you are familiar with.</p><p>In any case, I haven't forgotten about this story and I don't plan to anytime soon. As long as I've got it in me to keep writing it, I shall.  Next chapter should be out within a couple of days!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>4/14/2016<br/>
Morning</p><p>##</p><p>Akira took a different route from the station to school. As tempting as it was to try to check in with Ann off school grounds, it just wasn’t worth another encounter with Kamoshida.</p><p>She had however mentioned that she was doing so the evening before, when Ryuji saw her off at her train. He’d insisted on meeting up and going together. Privately Akira had to admit she figured his presence would likely just escalate any encounters, but she didn’t mind the company, so she humored him.</p><p>Ryuji yawned as he kept pace with her, before asking, “So now, what, we just wait and hope?”</p><p>“I’d like to speak to Suzui again,” Akira said, eyes on a swivel. There were some Shujin students ahead, the closest of which were a group of three chatting a block or so from school, but aside from that the route to the gate looked clear of abusive teachers. “But only if there’s a good opportunity. Pushing too hard might backfire.”</p><p>“What should I do?”</p><p>“Be patient. As long as we keep clear of Kamoshida, we should be able to stand another day or three,” she told him grimly. “And I want to talk to Morgana again before we move ahead with anything serious.”</p><p>They turned their conversation to more innocent topics while they passed the Shujin students. Akira did her best not to notice the brief, sneering looks they got, or the mutters and muffled laughter that followed them.</p><p>A good five or six meters later, Akira was nodding to one of Ryuji’s mundane questions when they heard a shout behind them. “Oi! Transfer!”</p><p>They both turned. Back down the street, two of the students looked both amused and nervous, while the one who called gave her a confident smirk. “How much?”</p><p>It really should not have made her as angry as it did. He had all the bravado of a schoolboy fulfilling a dare. But the juxtaposition of this juvenile reminder of her mundane issues against the real (and surreal) crises she was currently facing, on top of the turmoil of the past few days…</p><p>…Her nerves were frayed and her self-control tenuous. Or so she would rationalize it later.</p><p>In the moment all she heard was a roaring in her ears, and all she saw was red. It was only after Ryuji’s face and voice broke through the cacophany that she came back to herself.</p><p>“…not worth it, right? We’ve got more important shit to deal with. Let’s just go.”</p><p>His voice was calming and firm, if a little nervous. She noticed he was standing between her and the students, who seemed much closer than they had seemed a moment ago. She also noticed her hands were clenched tightly enough at her side to leave marks in her palm, and that she had been holding her breath.</p><p>It took a moment to relax both her lungs and her fists. During that moment, she glanced past him at the students. The two onlookers seemed to have lost their amusement, expressions uneasy. The one who’d insulted her had not backed down, but his smirk suddenly seemed a lot less sure.</p><p>To say she felt unsettled by her loss of control was an understatement, but her detention center instincts kicked in; without meaning to, she gave them an intense, dead-eyed glare. It was a look she had plenty of practice with. The point was to establish that yes, she was crazy. Violent, even.</p><p>And that is why they should <em>leave her the fuck alone.</em></p><p>After a moment or so of that, she abruptly turned on her heels and continued on to school. Ryuji caught up after a surprised moment.</p><p>As they walked away, the lead dickhead’s face-saving proclamation reached her ears. “I can’t believe <em>Sakamato,</em> of all people, had to hold her back. She really is nuts.”</p><p><em>And forget that at your peril, asshole,</em> her anger snarled uselessly in her head. The rest of her focused on making it through the school gate without strangling anyone.</p><p>They did not continue their conversation until they’d made it to the courtyard and found a table free of eavesdroppers.</p><p>“You good?” Ryuji asked her from over her shoulder as she inserted yen into one of the vending machines for something caffeinated.</p><p>“Good enough,” Akira muttered. “Thank you for stepping in.”</p><p>There was no immediate reply as she grabbed the drink from the dispensing slot, before turning and taking a seat at the table across from him.</p><p>“Hey, don’t worry about it,” he said, trying to inject some amusement into his voice. “I’m just glad you calmed down. Not sure what I could’ve done if you’d gone in swinging.”</p><p>Akira found herself snorting softly at that as she twisted off the cap, but inside her guts were churning. She could have ruined <em>everything,</em> in moments, over next to nothing. Without even consciously deciding to. The thought terrified her.</p><p>“For real, though,” he continued, managing a grin. “That was kinda great. Those guys damn near pissed themselves when you came at them.”</p><p>She shook her head. “If there’s one thing I learned in the detention center, it’s that nobody wants to set off the quiet, crazy one in the corner.”</p><p>His brows furrowed a little bit. “You mean, that was on purpose? You were playin’ it up?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>##</p><p>Ann wasn’t in class that morning.</p><p>Akira tried not to let her brain go too crazy with the speculation, with only partial success. When her first class ended, she pulled out her phone and sent a text to the number Ann had given her, asking if she was okay. After, she navigated to the only other open conversation on her phone.</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong>Ann didn’t come in today. I sent her a message, but let me know if you see her or Suzui.</p><p><strong>Ryuji:<br/>
</strong>You think something happened?</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong>I hope not.</p><p>The rest of her morning classes passed in something of a blur. When lunch hit, she stood to leave the classroom, but slowed to a stop as she passed Kawakami gathering her materials at the teacher’s desk.</p><p>Here was a difficult question. How much to trust Kawakami with? Could she ask her teacher directly about Kamoshida? If she knew, or even suspected, would she lie or deflect? Worse, would she turn on Akira to keep the peace? It looked like she hardly had the energy to teach her classes. Did she even have it in her to help Akira deal with Kamoshida?</p><p>Kawakami had noticed her. “Do you need something, Kurusu?”</p><p>Akira was silent for a moment. Her dilemma came back to her; if they ‘resolved’ Kamoshida’s distortion, there’d be no need to drag Kawakami into it. If they decided to go to the police, she would be a valuable ally. It would probably be worth building a more solid case, and coming up with a backup plan before involving her.</p><p>So she shook her head and muttered, “No, thank you,” before resuming her walk out of the classroom. She could feel Kawakami’s eyes on her as she left.</p><p>Akira made her way to the school shop, but settled on a simple snack once again. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to make skipping lunch a habit, but it was difficult to maintain an appetite at school through the tension of the constant scrutiny and her current situation.</p><p>And beneath the tension was a bubbling frustration. Where was Morgana? He was supposed to have met her by now. She began wondering if something had happened to him in the castle. He was obviously more experienced than they were, but she’d seen first hand he wasn’t all that much stronger than they were.</p><p>As she made her way to the courtyard they’d been meeting at, she resolved to ask Ryuji if he’d be up for a brief jaunt through the castle after school to find the not-cat before he got himself killed.</p><p>“Hey, Kurusu!”</p><p>Akira was jerked up out of her thoughts by a calm, friendly voice that filled her with dread. Turning, her heart sunk to see Kamoshida walking quickly to catch up with her, smile on his face.</p><p>
  <em>God damn it.</em>
</p><p>She put on her own fake smile, and said, “Yes, Mr. Kamoshida?”</p><p>“Do you mind coming with me? I’ve got something I’d like to talk to you about,” he told her jovially. He then evidently misinterpreted the look she was unable to keep off her face, because he followed quickly with, “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble! I just wanted to have a chat about your time here so far.”</p><p>Fuck. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid.</p><p>“I would, but I told Sakamato I would help him study over lunch,”<em> s</em>he lied, putting some sheepishness into her voice.</p><p>Kamoshida’s smile twitched, but he didn’t drop the facade. “It’s good that you’re keeping on top of your studies, but this is important. I’m sure Sakamato will understand if you’re a few minutes late. Heck, he’ll probably be relieved!”</p><p>There was just a hint of acid in those last couple of words, but Akira doubted most people would have picked up on it. She fought the urge to grind her teeth.</p><p>“Okay. Just give me a sec, to let him know I’m going to be late.”</p><p>Kamoshida nodded tolerantly as she pulled out her phone.</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong> Kamoshida wants to talk in his office. Could use a distraction.</p><p>Her finger hovered over the send button, but she hesitated. She had little doubt Ryuji would do whatever he needed to to get her out of this, but she didn’t want him to get in trouble or clue Kamoshida in too early that they were onto him. So instead of sending, she left the message saved as a draft and instead navigated to and activated the recording app on her phone.</p><p>That done, she put it away and donned that fake smile again. Kamoshida returned it with his own and nodded in the direction of his office.</p><p>The trip was quiet, but Akira’s brain was not. She was familiar enough with abusive situations to believe they hadn’t quite reached the point where she was in direct physical danger, but it wasn’t a gamble she felt confident taking. By the time they reached the office, her rapid heartbeat was pumping in her ears, and she found herself sitting in a chair facing him at his desk.</p><p>“So,” he began casually. “How are you liking Shujin so far?”</p><p>“It’s been…difficult in some ways, but overall I think this is a good opportunity for me,” she lied brazenly. It was hard to keep her voice and face steady.</p><p>He smiled at that. “Yes, Shujin asks a lot from its students. But in return, they’re provided a meaningful future. It takes a mature mind to recognize that.”</p><p>Here we go.</p><p>“That’s part of what I’m here to talk to you about. From your academic record and what I’ve heard from your other teachers, though it’s still early, you show promise. You’re clearly an intelligent young woman, despite your past.”</p><p>The compliment felt slimy.</p><p>Kamoshida leaned forward, leaning into his arms on his desk, as he continued. “But, there has been some worry among the faculty, too. Even setting aside the day you missed, they say that while you give the right answers in class, you’re unfocused and distracted. That outside of class, you only interact with potentially bad influences.”</p><p>Ryuji, of course. <em>For fuck’s sake, I’ve been here for less than a week.</em></p><p>“I think that’s somewhat understandable,” he said, false sympathy in his voice. “After the leak, I know the student body hasn’t exactly rolled out the red carpet for you. But I think it’s important that you’re given the chance to integrate. To nip this isolation in the bud, so to speak.</p><p>“So, Kurusu - how would you like to join the volleyball team?”</p><p>Akira blinked. This wasn’t how she’d expected this to go. An offer of ‘sanctuary’ from the pariah status <em>he’d</em> inflicted on her, to leave her indebted and close at hand? Sure. But from what he’d said in the castle, she’d been under the impression the volleyball team was his pride and joy.</p><p>“Isn’t your team really good? I’ve never played volleyball before.”</p><p>Kamoshida chuckled. “Yes, of course you’d be tried out and given training before we put you into any games. But I saw that you did well on your school’s tennis team, back in Junior High. And you seem to have kept yourself in shape, since then. I have a good feeling that you’d be game-ready faster than you think.”</p><p>Of course he’d gone deeper into her records. God. Her hands were beginning to shake, and she clasped them together under the desk to keep them still.</p><p>“I…I appreciate the offer. But Principal Kobayakawa told me it was important that my studies be my number one priority. I don’t know if I’d have the time to…do the team justice.”</p><p>He nodded amiably, as though he’d expected that. “It’s good that you’re taking that seriously. But I’m sure Principal Kobayakawa would make an exception in this case. The volleyball team is the pride of Shujin, after all.”</p><p>It was hard for Akira to resist just blurting out the answer, but she needed to at least appear to consider it. After a moment, she tentatively asked, “Could I think about this? And get back to you?”</p><p>The smile on Kamoshida’s face faded a bit. “Sure, of course. But I think you should really consider just <em>what</em> I’m offering here. A place on my team is no small thing. With your record, it could be the only thing that gets you into a good college.”</p><p>There was a brief gap in her fear where she had to fight the urge to snort. It was the wrong leverage to grasp at; she’d had plenty of time to adjust to the idea that she was never getting into a good college. Even prior to her arrest, Akira’s future had been meticulously planned out by her parents. Years of resignment to that inevitable path had killed most of the enthusiasm she’d had for college in the first place.</p><p>So she just nodded, trying to look thoughtful rather than nauseous. “It’s…just a lot to take in. I don’t want to jump into anything before I’ve had time to…”</p><p>Akira trailed off as she felt a subtle wave of possessive, indignant frustration wash over her. She could tell it wasn’t hers, but she felt it nonetheless. Then she took an involuntarily sharp intake of breath as Kamoshida’s eyes seemed to take on a gold cast. Just for a moment, though, and the next moment they were their normal brown, and she found herself unsure she’d really seen or felt anything at all.</p><p>Before she could process all that, Kamoshida gave a long-suffering sigh. “Sakamato’s told you some horror stories, hasn’t he?”</p><p>“I…” She found herself struggling to find a safe response.</p><p>Meanwhile, Kamoshida was the very picture of a Reasonable Adult as he continued, “I feel terrible about what happened to the poor kid. I was told his leg would likely never fully recover, and despite our differences, he was one hell of an athlete. I never wanted things to turn out like they did. I still hold myself responsible for it all.”</p><p>Akira felt rage beginning to circle in her gut, but kept quiet.</p><p>“I should have spoken to him sooner, before things got out of hand. Or handled the situation better. I understand why he hates me so much, and why he acts out.” Kamoshida shook his head, a sad look on his face. “What happened to him was an accident, that I’ll regret for the rest of my days. But I can’t turn back time. And as a teacher, I can’t allow him to act out when it affects the people around him.”</p><p>At this, Kamoshida got up and walked over to a nearby window. “I thought opposing his expulsion was the kind thing to do, that I’d be able to make amends and help him move on. But it’s been a year, and we’ve made no progress. And now he’s sabotaging the opportunities of his fellow students by spreading falsehoods. I’m beginning to think it might best if he were to…go to a different school.”</p><p>There it was. Akira seethed as she realized Kamoshida expected her to leap into the ‘opportunity’ he’d offered to save Ryuji from expulsion or transfer.</p><p>“…I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” she told him as evenly as she could. “Sakamato and I haven’t talked about anything like that. We’ve only known each other for a few days.”</p><p>He gave a brief flash of surprise, but she continued in that same tone before he could regain the initiative. “I understand what you’re offering, and I promise I’ll consider it. Regardless of what anyone else has to say. But this week has been a rollercoaster, and I need some time to settle in before I start making major decisions.”</p><p>Akira wasn’t sure where her anxiety had gone, but wasn’t upset to find it replaced with a cold purpose that reminded her of Odessa. She would not allow Kamoshida to shape this conversation to fit his plans for her.</p><p>Kamoshida’s expression shifted, but it was tough to pin down exactly how. For a moment, they just looked at each other, before he nodded amiably and said, “I suppose that’s understandable. It’s only fair then that I let you know that the staff have been asked to give their opinions on your progress by the board meeting on the second of May. I don’t want to pressure you, but you should think about showing them you’re serious about your rehabilitation.”</p><p>She fought the urge to snort. There was something to ask Kawakami - did the staff really receive a request like that? Akira was willing to bet they hadn’t; Kobayakawa had explicitly told her to avoid extracurriculars and to focus on her studies, and it was far too early to judge that. As long as she kept her grades up, she had a hard time imagining the school throwing her out on a whim when she still had potential as good PR.</p><p>Of course, Kamoshida always had the option of lying about her conduct. Akira had no illusions about who the school would believe in that case.</p><p>So she nodded, and stood as she said, “Thank you for the warning. I’ll keep that in mind. May I go get lunch?”</p><p>Another piercing look, before he capitulated. “Of course.”</p><p>After giving a polite farewell, Akira made it half-way down the hall before the weight of her situation settled on her like a mantle. Less than a minute later, she found herself in a bathroom stall, vomiting Sojiro’s morning curry with tears stinging her eyes. Once she felt empty, she leaned her head on the seat, trying to settle her nerves enough to finish the school day.</p><p>“Nobody should have to live like this,” she muttered to herself quietly.</p><p><em>You’re hardly the first,</em> her anger informed her. <em>And you won’t be the last. Get up and do something about it.</em></p><p>##</p><p>It took longer than she'd like to admit before she had the guts to get up and find Ryuji. Lunch was already well past half over.</p><p>Ryuji stood as she approached him at his table in the courtyard. His grin faded as she approached. “Yo, where you been?”</p><p>“Talking with Kamoshida.”</p><p>His face became serious. “You okay?”</p><p>Akira just nodded, before saying, “I’m fine, but we’ve got a deadline.”</p><p>Glancing around for eavesdroppers, Ryuji moved a bit closer before saying, “We should head up to the roof.”</p><p>Raising a brow, Akira asked, “Why?”</p><p>He turned to her as he walked on by, giving her a grim smile as he answered, “To meet someone.”</p><p>To meet…oh. Akira blinked and nodded, and they carefully made their way up to the roof.</p><p>Once they were up there, Ryuji went over to a nearby desk, slid his bag off his back, and glanced around. “Morgana! Get out here.”</p><p>Akira jumped at the sudden appearance of a gorgeous black cat on the desk next to him, and then jumped again to hear Morgana’s voice emit from the creature.</p><p>“Keep your voice down, idiot! None of us are allowed to be up here.”</p><p>“Morgana?” After the initial shock, Akira found that this wasn’t as surprising as it probably should have been. “I thought you weren’t a cat.”</p><p>“I’m not!” He hissed at her, before lowering his eyes and sitting. “When I came to this world, this is what I looked like. I mean, how many cats do you know that can talk?”</p><p>“Fair point.”</p><p>“Yeah! You wouldn’t believe how much of a pain it was to find you guys looking like this.”</p><p>Akira took a seat, and ran her hand through her hair. “Can other people hear you talk?”</p><p>“No,” Morgana replied. “I don’t know why, but everyone else just hears…cat noises.”</p><p>“Almost like you’re a cat,” Ryuji said, a small grin on his face.</p><p>“I’m not a cat!”</p><p>Akira gave Ryuji an irritated look. “That’s not helpful.”</p><p>He winced, and said, “I guess you’re right. Sorry, Morgana.”</p><p>The not-cat didn’t look eager to forgive or forget, but Akira cut off the argument by asking, “So, what is your deal? If you’re not a cat, what are you exactly?”</p><p>“I’m a human!” He said, tail sticking straight up. After a moment, it drooped a bit as he continued, “Or at least…I think I am.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>Morgana looked aside as his tail gave an agitated swish. “I don’t remember. I have amnesia.”</p><p>It took a moment to process, but Akira felt a punch in the gut as she considered Morgana’s situation. Waking up in an unfamiliar form with no memory of how you got there? Sounds like a nightmare. “I’m sorry. That sounds rough.”</p><p>Another tail swish. After a moment, Morgana said in a less agitated tone, “It is.”</p><p>So she asked gently, “But you remember shadows and Palaces. What else do you remember?”</p><p>He glanced up at her and took a moment before answering. “That’s mostly it. Almost everything I remember has to do with the Metaverse and its…nature. That’s why I think it’s relevant to retrieving my memories.”</p><p>Akira leaned back a bit, hand on her chin as she thought about it. A creature with no apparent past, dropped into her path just when she’d discovered the Metaverse, willing and able to teach her how it works? The Velvet Room was the only other place she’d heard the terms Morgana had used. It had to be related.</p><p>It was too convenient.</p><p>But…Morgana gave off a different feeling, compared to the residents of the Velvet Room. It felt strange to even admit that, but she was beginning to put more trust in her gut feeling regarding these things. Part of her wanted to ask about the Velvet Room, but another part of her urged her not to. In the end, she supposed she could always do so in the future.</p><p>“What was your goal in Kamoshida’s Palace?” She eventually asked. “I assume it was related to your memories.”</p><p>Morgana glanced to the side, and admitted. “It’s just a strong feeling I have. Regaining my memories involves resolving the distortions of evil individuals.”</p><p>“You picked a good place to start,” Ryuji said in a subdued voice as he looked off into the sky. Then, he glanced over at Akira, and asked, “So what did he want to talk to you about? You said something about a deadline?”</p><p>Akira sighed. Where to even start? “He invited me to join the volleyball team. When I hesitated, he blamed it on you and threatened to bring it up at the next board meeting on May second, if I hadn’t taken steps to…prove I’m committed to Shujin.”</p><p>“Well,” Ryuji said after a moment to consider that. “Shit.”</p><p>Morgana piped up then. “That’s plenty of time to steal his distorted desires, if we start now.”</p><p>Akira had already been considering that, but was surprised to hear no immediate objection from Ryuji. She was about to speak up when she heard a text notification from her phone.</p><p><strong>Ann:<br/>
</strong> Can you meet me at Sanno Hospital after school?</p><p>Akira stared at the screen, mind swirling with possibilities. None of them good.</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong>Yes. Just me? Or would it be okay if I bring Ryuji?</p><p>“That Ann?” Ryuji asked, voice concerned. Akira nodded. After a moment, she received a response.</p><p><strong>Ann:<br/>
</strong>If he’s helping you with Kamoshida, yes.</p><p>Akira stared at the message. Glancing up at Ryuji, she asked, “Are you able to come with me to Sanno Hospital after school?”</p><p>He paled a bit, and glanced at Morgana. “Yeah. What’s up?”</p><p><strong>Akira:<br/>
</strong>We’ll be there.</p><p>“Nothing good,” she said, as she put her phone away and looked to Ryuji.</p><p>"Something up with Ann?" Ryuji asked.</p><p>“Probably.” Akira glanced at the not-cat, who was looking at her with serious eyes, and something occurred to her. “Morgana, do you have a place to stay?”</p><p>His tail swished again. “…No, not really. But there’s plenty of places for a stray…cat, to sleep.”</p><p>Akira’s heart turned over once more. This was such a bad idea. “If you can keep quiet, you can stay with me.”</p><p>Ryuji glanced at her, surprised. “You sure? With your probation and everything?”</p><p>Morgana looked between them. “Probation?”</p><p>“Can you take him?” Akira asked Ryuji, ignoring Morgana.</p><p>He winced. “I mean…probably not. My mom is allergic to cats, and our place is too small to hide one.”</p><p>“Hey!” Morgana was incensed. “What do you mean by ‘probation?’”</p><p>After a sigh, Akira explained. “I was framed for a bunch of crimes. My guardian probably wouldn’t be okay with a cat.”</p><p>At that Morgana’s tail swished again and he glared at her. “F-framed?…Then you should focus on your own problems! I’m hardly useless! I’ll find a place to sleep.”</p><p>Akira glared right back. “You’re not sleeping in the streets when I have a perfectly good attic.”</p><p>“A-Attic?”</p><p>“And you can stay in my bag during the day, if you want,” her mouth said without her input. What was she even doing? “As long as you’re quiet during class.”</p><p>Ryuji looked shocked. “Really?”</p><p>“Really,” Akira confirmed. Suddenly, the bell rang; she did not try to hide her smile when she offered her bag to Morgana, and he climbed in after a moment of hesitation. Looking to Ryuji, she said, “I’ll meet you after school.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>